Korea Open: Another tournament, another early exit for Zii Jia

KUALA LUMPUR: National men's singles ace Lee Zii Jia suffered another first-round heartbreak at the Korea Open 2023 badminton championships today.

The 2021 All England champion, whose world ranking is already on a downward spiral following a series of poor performances, went down 15-21, 21-18, 17-21 to Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong at the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu.

The World Tour Super 500 is Zii Jia's first tournament since announcing a temporary break from badminton following his first-round exit in the Indonesia Open last month.

The Indonesia Open defeat also saw Zii Jia turning to Wong Tat Meng, who previously coached Ka Long, for help. Ka Long now trains under former Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) singles coaching director Wong Choong Hann.

In the second round tomorrow, Ka Long will face another Malaysian, Ng Tze Yong, who thrashed Mithun Manjunath of India 21-11, 21-4 in their opening tie.

In women's singles, two out of three Malaysian shuttlers advanced into the round of 16.

Newly-crowned national champion K. Letshanaa outlasted Taiwan's Huang Ching Ping 21-12, 15-21, 21-18 but faces an uphill task tomorrow as she will be up against another Taiwanese - reigning Olympic silver medallist Tai Tzu Ying, who defeated Malvika Bansod of India 21-17, 21-7.

S. Kisona also advanced by eliminating American Lauren Lam 21-19, 21-19 and she too can expect a torrid time tomorrow as she will have to take on Japan's two-time world champion and top seed Akane Yamaguchi, who beat Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-17, 12-21, 21-19.

Former world junior champion Goh Jin Wei, meanwhile, was sent packing 18-21, 21-14, 19-21 by Indonesian Putri Kusuma Wardani.

The Malaysian mixed doubles pair of Hoo Pang Ron-Teoh Mei Xing also missed out on the second round after going down 17-21, 10-21 to Thailand's second-seeded Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai.

In the second round, the Thai pair will face another Malaysian combination, world number 19 Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who progressed after beating Japan's Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo 21-15, 27-25.

-- BERNAMA