The world No 10 defeated China’s Lei Lan Xi 21-17, 23-21 in a 50-minute battle while Jun Hao defeated Su Li-yang of Chinese Taipei 14-21, 21-15, 21-17 in 66 minutes.
Zii Jia will take on Jeon Hyeok-jin of South Korea for a place in the quarterfinals while Jun Hao will face a tough encounter against home favourite and former world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
Zii Jia when met after the match said he was happy that he managed to go through to the second round and he will be preparing for a tough battle against Hyeok-jin tomorrow.
“Although I have beaten him (Hyeok-jin) last year…I do not want to take anything for granted and will prepare myself well for the game tomorrow,” he told Bernama here today.
The sixth seeded Zii Jia said he did not set any target for this tournament so as not to pressure himself because his prime target is still the Olympic Games.
However, Malaysian men’s doubles pair, Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King sprang a surprise when they ousted the tournament’s sixth seeds, Lu Ching-yao and Yang Po-han of Chinese Taipei 16-21, 21-13, 21-16 in 63 minutes.
Junaidi said that their key en route to winning the battle was their game plan in the second and third games.
“In the first game, we followed our opponent’s game too much and they were in control but we changed our strategy in the second game and won which gave us confidence to push in the rubber game,” he said.
Junaidi and Yap will meet the Danish pair of Danile Lungaard and Mads Vestergaard who earlier defeated the young Malaysian pair of Beh Chun Meng and Goh Boon Zhe 22-20, 21-12 in 38 minutes.
Another Malaysian men’s doubles pair who sailed into the second round are Choong Hon Jian and Muhammad Haikal, who beat Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley of Scotland in straight games, 21-16, 21-11 in 32 minutes and tomorrow they will face the Thai pair of Pharanyu Kaosamaang and Worrapol Thongsa-nga, who earlier defeated another Malaysian pair, Chia Weijie and Liew Xun 21-14, 18-21 and 21-19 in 55 minutes.
The other Malaysian men’s doubles pairs, Low Hang Yee and Ng Eng Cheong, Nur Mohd Azryn Ayub Azryn and Tan Wee Kiong, and Boon Xin Yuan and Goh V Shem, all crashed out of the tournament after losing to their opponents.
In the mixed doubles, Malaysia’s Yap and Valeree Siow beat Lui Chun Wai and Fu Chi Yan of Hong Kong 21-19, 21-17 while Choong Hon Jian and Go Pei Kee defeated Neuaduang Mangkornloi and Atitaya Povanon of Thailand 21-10, 21-15.
Yap and Valeree will take on the tournament’s top seeds and home favourites, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai while Hon Jian and Pei Kee will face the tournament’s sixth seeds, Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Lisa Ayu Kusumawati of Indonesia tomorrow.
The country’s sole representative in the women’s singles, K Letshanaa failed to clear her first hurdle after losing to the tournament’s sixth seed Supanida Katethong of Thailand 12-21, 10-21 in 39 minutes.
Malaysia did not send any representative for the women’s doubles this year.