Zii Jia knocked out cold in Swiss Open first round

PETALING JAYA: National men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia (pic) was no match for Indonesian superstar Jonatan Christie as he was sent packing in the first round of the Swiss Open in Basel, Switzerland.

The 20-year-old Zii Jia was visibly disappointed as he fell 9-21, 17-21 to the world No. 10 on Wednesday as it was his worst defeat against Jonatan. Previously, Zii Jia had stretched the 2018 Asian Games gold medal winner to rubber games before losing.

Independent shuttler Liew Daren continued to keep the Malaysian flag flying high as he advanced into the second round after dismantling Frenchman Toma Junior Popov 21-12, 21-19.

He faces a tough second round test against another Indonesian prodigy in Anthony Ginting.

In the men’s doubles, Mohd Arif Abdul Latif-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub came from a game down to take out Japan’s Keiichiro Matsui-Yoshinori Takeuchi 14-21, 21-19, 21-19 to set up a meeting against India’s G. Arun-S. Sanyam in the second round.