KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s singles ace Lee Zii Jia beat Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand today to book his semifinal berth at the Hylo Open 2021 in Germany.
The 2021 All England Champion comfortably won the first game 21-13 but was given a scare in the second as he trailed 6-16 before levelling the score at 16-16 and eventually winning 22-20.
The second seeded Zii Jia will next meet the winner of the clash between sixth seed Srikanth Kidambi of India and Hong Kong’s third seeded Angus Ng Ka-long, who will play their quarterfinal tie later today.
Zii Jia is now the favourite for the title after top seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan was upset by Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 21-18, 21-13 in the first round on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Malaysian pair Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei will face Thailand’s Supak Jomokh-Supissara Paewsampran in the mixed doubles last eight later today.