KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 — National men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia stormed into the Australian Open quarter-finals after eliminating compatriot Soong Joo Ven in the second round today.
Third seed Zii Jia won 21-18, 21-14 in 41 minutes in the Super 500 tournament held at Quaycentre, Sydney.
Tomorrow, the world No.8 will take on seventh seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan, who overcame India’s Kiran George 22-20, 21-6.
Zii Jia will be joined by six other Malaysian players, including rising men’s doubles pair Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri and mixed doubles duo Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing.
Hon Jian-Haikal outclassed home pair Aneesh Nirmal-Emmanuel Stephen Sam 21-12, 21-8 to set up a last-eight tie against another Australian duo, Rizky Hidayat-Frengky Wijaya Putra.
Rizky-Frengky prevented an all-Malaysian affair in the next round after they eliminated Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn-Tan Wee Kiong 14-21, 23-21, 21-19.
And Kian Meng-Pei Jing had no problem beating Adam Jeffrey-Justine Villegas of Australia 21-7, 21-7.
The fifth seeds will lock horns with Hon Jian-Go Pei Kee after the national duo triumphed over Australia’s Timotius Elbert-Maureen Clarissa Wijaya 21-14, 21-6.
— Bernama
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