Zii Jia misses out on BWF World Tour Finals

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s professional men’s singles ace Lee Zii Jia has failed to reach the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals in Bangkok, Thailand, from Dec 7-11.

This is following the world number two shuttler’s 22-20, 15-21, 16-21 loss to China’s Lu Guang Zu in a 70-minute battle in the second round of the 2022 Australian Open at the Quay Centre in Sydney yesterday.

The result meant the 24-yearold Zii Jia remained in ninth position in the BWF World Tour Finals ranking with 54,930 points, with Guang Zu finishing eighth with 56,310 points.

Only the top-eight players and pairs will qualify for the World Tour Finals.

Meanwhile, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Ng Tze Yong cleared the second round hurdle with a hard-fought 21-16, 19-21, 21-5 victory over South Korea’s Heo Kwang Hee.

In the quarter-finals, Tze Yong will take on Australian Nathan Tang, who had to come from behind to eliminate compatriot Jie Ying Chan 18-21, 21-17, 22-20 in the second round.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Soong Joo Ven also crashed out after going down 21-15, 18-21, 12-21 to Indonesia’s Ikhsan Leonardo Imanuel Rumbay.

In women’s singles, two-time world junior champion Goh Jin Wei cruised into the quarterfinals by trouncing India’s Anwesha Gowda 21-7, 21-13.

The unseeded Jin Wei will face third seed Pornpawee Chochuwong after the Thai shuttler beat Japan’s Aya Ohori, 21-11, 21-15 yesterday.

National professional men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi also made the last eight after taking just 23 minutes to oust Australians Ricky Cheng-Jack Wang 21-6, 21-18.

In the last eight, the sixthseeded Malaysians will take on South Koreans Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae, who had earlier eliminated Japan’s Hiroki Okamura-Masayuki Onodera 2110, 21-10.