KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s top men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia(pix) downed Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito with a hard-fought 21-14, 22-20 win to storm into the last eight of the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) 2022 in Manila, Philippines, today.
After a convincing first-game win in the second round match, world number seven Zii Jia faced a torrid time in the second game before surviving by the skin of his teeth to advance into the quarter-finals at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex.
The third-seeded Zii Jia will take on Kanta Tsuneyama for a place in tomorrow’s semi-finals after the eighth-seeded Japanese knocked out Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam 21-9, 21-10.
Meanwhile, Indonesian fourth seed Jonatan Christie shattered Liew Daren’s hopes of going further when he defeated Malaysia’s professional shuttler 21-14, 13-21, 21-19.
It was also the end of the road for national number one women’s singles ace S. Kisona, who went down 18-21, 14-21 to fifth seed He Bing Jao of China.
In men’s doubles, Tokyo Olympic 2020 bronze medallists Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik defated Singaporeans Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Jun Liang Andy Kwek 21-16, 21-19 for a quarter-final date with India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
Satwiksairaj-Chirag had earlier sent Japan’s Akira Koga-Taichi Saito packing 21-17, 21-15.
German Open 2022 champions Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani made it a double delight for Malaysia when they too checked into the men’s doubles last eight.
The Malaysians eliminated Kang Minhyuk-Kim Wonho of South Korea 21-17, 21-17 and will meet Ren Xiang Yu-Tan Qiang after the unseeded Chinese pair pulled off a huge upset by ousting top seeds Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 21-9, 21-15.
However, 2021 World Championships men’s doubles bronze medallists Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi suffered a shock exit at the hands of young Indonesian pair Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan 16-21, 21-18, 16-21 in a tense 52-minute battle.
There was also joy for top national women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah when they too checked into the quarter-finals after disposing of Hong Kong’s Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam 21-13, 23-21 in 33 minutes.
Fourth seeds Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota await the seventh-seeded Pearly-Thinaah next after the Japanese pair overcame Chasinee Korepap-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat of Thailand 21-13, 21-18.
Independent mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, however, failed to clear their second-round hurdle, losing 19-21, 21-16, 13-21 to Japan's Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo.-Bernama