Zii Jia climbs to third world ranking

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's professional men's singles player, Lee Zii Jia, climbed one rung to world number three in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released today.

However, this is not the best world ranking for the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist, as the 26-year-old shuttler was ranked number two on Jan 18 last year.

China's Shi Yuqi remains the world's number one player, while two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark is ranked second.

Another national men's singles player, Ng Tze Yong, who has not competed in any tournaments since February after undergoing two back injury surgeries, dropped three places to rank 25th in the world.

Malaysia remains strong in men's doubles, with four national pairs ranked among the world's top 20.

However, the nation's top pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, dropped from third to fifth in the world after losing 4,150 points from their runners-up finish at last year's China Open.

The other three pairs are professionals Nur Izzuddin Rumsani-Goh Sze Fei, ranked 12th in the world, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (17th) and Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri (19th).

In women's doubles, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah remain eighth in the world, while mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei hold on to the ninth spot.

The nation's top women's singles player, Goh Jin Wei, dropped two spots to 33rd in the world.

-- BERNAMA

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