KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Malaysia’s professional singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia, continued his winning streak in the 2024 Indonesia Masters by advancing to the quarterfinals after defeating Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long at Istora Senayan, Jakarta today.

Zii Jia, the world’s 10th-ranked player, secured a 22-20, 21-15 victory in the second-round match that lasted 46 minutes.

This marks Zii Jia’s third win against Ka Long, having previously defeated him at the 2019 German Open and the 2022 Asian Games.

The 2023 Arctic Open champion will face either India’s Priyanshu Rajawat or Canada’s Brian Yang in the battle for a spot in the semifinals.

Accompanying Zii Jia are mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who defeated fellow Malaysians Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See 21-12, 21-16.

The gold medallists of the 2022 Korea Open will next meet the top-seeded pair Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong from China who defeated Singapore’s Terry Hee Yong-Jessica Tan Wei 21-12, 16-21, 21-19 in another second-round match.

Based on their previous encounters, Kian Meng-Pei Jing have been defeated eight times by the silver medallists of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, another national singles player, Leong Jun Hao, faced a different fate as he was defeated by the third-seeded player of the tournament, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting from Indonesia, in 15-21, 17-21.

Malaysian mixed doubles professional pair, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, were shown the exit by the South Korean duo of Kim Won Ho-Jeong Na Eun. They lost 10-21 and 16-21.

Another Malaysian mixed doubles pair, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, were eliminated by Indonesian pair Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto-Lisa Ayu Kusumawati in 21-12, 13-21, and 14-21.

The country’s leading women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah as predicted became the third Malaysian representatives to secure a quarter-final place in the tournament after beating French pair Margot Lambert-Anne Tran, 21-14 and 21-10, in a match that lasted 31 minutes.

The runners-up of the 2023 Hong Kong Open will next meet the tournament’s fourth seeds Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning from China who defeated another Malaysian pair, Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien, 21-15 and 21-15.

Meanwhile, three national men’s doubles bowed out in the second round. Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun lost 18-21 and 20-22 to the third seeds Fajar Alfian-Muhamamd Rian Ardianto from Indonesia.

Muhammad Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian were defeated by Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard, 17-21 and 19-21, before Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi lost 15-21 and 11-21 to Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani from Indonesia. — Bernama