Zii Jia secures spot in BWF World Tour Finals

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's professional men's singles player Lee Zii Jia has qualified for the BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, next month.

This was confirmed by BWF in a social media post, marking Zii Jia's return to the prestigious tournament after a two-year absence.

This will be Zii Jia's third appearance at the season-ending tournament, following the 2020 and 2021 editions.

BWF also announced that Thailand's 2024 Paris Olympic silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn has qualified for the tournament, along with women's singles players Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Thailand), Aya Ohori (Japan) and Indonesian women's doubles pair Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amalia Chaya Pratiwi.

Previously, four Malaysian pairs -- Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani, Cheng Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, Pearly Tan-M Thinaah and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai -- had confirmed their participation in the tournament after securing spots among the top eight pairs in their respective categories.

Only the top eight players and pairs in the BWF World Tour rankings qualify for the finals, limited to a maximum of two representatives from each country per category.

The gold medallists at the 2024 Paris Olympics will automatically qualify for the tournament, even if they are not in the top eight of the BWF World Tour rankings.

-- BERNAMA