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SHAH ALAM - Malaysia's challenge in the men's singles event at the World Championships in Denmark ended on Thursday after world No 13 Lee Zii Jia crashed out in the last 16.
The 25-year-old went down 21-18, 21-17 to Denmark's Anders Antonsen in 53 minutes, his fourth defeat in five meetings.
Zii Jia, a quarter-finalist in 2018 and 2019, has now failed to get past the last 16 of the world meet for the second edition running.
In other news, defending champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik stepped into the quarterfinals after defeating Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin in their third-round match.
The pair won 21-16, 21-18 in straight sets to set up a clash with Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi of China.
Meanwhile, Pearly Tan-M Thinaah became the first Malaysian women’s doubles team to qualify for the quarterfinals in the World Championships yesterday.
The pair defeated the world number four pair Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara of Japan 21-14, 22-20 to set up a meeting with China’s Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu.