Zii Jia shows his bite in Bitburger Open
IT was a brilliant display of coming of age for 19-year-old Lee Zii Jia, who checked into the semifinals of the Bitburger Open in Germany yesterday.
Zii Jia, who has been enjoying a good run since winning his maiden senior crown at the Polish International Series in September, clawed back from a game down in the quarter-finals to upset third seed Brice Leverdez of France 1921, 21-18, 21-10.
Just three months ago, Leverdez, had broken the hearts of Malaysians when he sent former World No 1 Lee Chong Wei packing in the opening round of the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
In the third round, Zii Jia had staged a superb 21-17, 21-12 upset win over sixth seed Qiao Bin of China.
Zii Jia, who was only promoted to the national senior squad this year, will play Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke next for a place in tomorrow’s final.
The Kedah-born shuttler is also Malaysia’s sole representative in the singles event, following the exit of Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin in the third round on Thursday.
In the men’s doubles quarterfinals, two of Malaysia's scratch pairings — Goh V Shem-Teo Ee Yi and Tan Wee Kiong-Ong Yew Sin — were involved in late matches.
Playing in only their second tournament together after the French Open last week, V ShemEe Yi were up against fourth seeds Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia, while Wee Kiong-Yew Sin took on second seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark.