Zii Jia easily clears first round

KUALA LUMPUR: National badminton men's singles ace Lee Zii Jia convincingly beat Brice Leverdez of France in the first round of the World Championships in Tokyo today.

The world number five gave a spirited display to beat the French player 21-9, 21-13 in 39 minutes at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Zii Jia, who is seeded fifth, will face Portugal's Bernardo Atilano in the second round tomorrow.

Bernardo received a walkover from Germany's Max Weisskirchen today.

Malaysia's professional women's doubles pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien also cleared their first hurdle after defeating Germany's Linda Efler-Isabel Lohau 21-17, 21-15 in 45 minutes.

World number 26 Vivian-Chiew Sien are supposed to face Rachel Honderich-Kristen Tsai in the second round tomorrow but the Canadians have pulled out of the championships.

The Malaysians' third-round opponents will be either third seeds Lee So Hee-Shing Seung Chan of South Korea or India's Pooja Dandu-Sanjana Santosh.

Meanwhile, national mixed doubles pair Cheng Tan Jie-Peck Yen Wei also moved into the next round after an easy 21-8, 19-2 (rtd) win over Americans Mathew Fogarty-Isabel Zhong.

World number 28 Tan Jie-Yen Wei are set to face fourth seeds Wang Yi Lyu-Huang Dong Ping of China in the second round.

-- BERNAMA