KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — National men's singles ace, Lee Zii Jia was made to sweat before reaching the second round of the Hylo Open 2021 in Germany, yesterday.

Despite winning the first set 21-11 against Spanish veteran shuttler, Pablo Abian, the 2021 All England Champion failed to maintain the same momentum in the second and suffered a 21-23 defeat. 

Pablo then forced Zii Jia to step up his gear before the latter moved on into the next round after winning the closely-fought decider set, 24-22.

Zii Jia, seeded second in the tournament, will set up a clash against unseeded Irish player, Nhat Nguyen today, who defeated H.S. Prannoy of India, 16-21, 21-17, 21-7 in the first round.

Meanwhile, new professional duo, Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kiong became Malaysia's sole survivor in men's doubles category as the pair eased past Japan's Takuto Inoue-Kenya Mitsuhashi, 21-10, 21-15.

However, a greater challenge awaits Kian Meng-Wee Kiong in the second round as they will lock horns against world number two, Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan after the Indonesian pair had earlier eliminated another Japanese duo, Mahiro Kaneko-Yunosuke Kubota, 21-15, 21-18.

In the mixed doubles category, Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei took 40 minutes to brush aside Taiwanese pair, Lee Jhe-Huei-Hsu Ya Ching, 18-21, 21-14, 21-14 to book a tie against England's Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith after the third seeded pair saw off Jones Ralfy Jansen-Linda Efler of Germany, 21-9, 21-14.

Other results

(Note: Malaysians unless stated)

Men’s doubles:

Lee Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin (INA) bt Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-12, 21-19

Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han (TPE) bt Goh V Shem-Low Juan Shen 19-21, 21-19, 21-15

Women’s doubles:

Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sen bt Alexandra Boje-Mette Poulsen (DEN) 21-23, 21-18, 21-17

Mixed doubles:

Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (THA) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 21-16, 21-17 — Bernama