KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — After suffering two successive defeats in tournaments, the country’s top men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia returned to winning ways by defeating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka and advance to the second round of the 2024 All England badminton championships, today.

Zii Jia, ranked 10th in the world, outclassed the world number six ranked Japanese player 21-12, 21-19 in straight sets in the opening round of the Super 1000 tournament at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.

However, with only one point required to secure victory in the second game, Zii Jia who was leading by eight points, conceded seven straight points to give the Malaysian camp some tense moments since Naraoka fought back to 20-19 from 20-12, before losing out.

In four encounters against Naraoka previously, the Malaysian only won once, incidentally at last year’s All England quarter-finals, but suffered defeats in both meetings after thast - 2023 China Open first round and 2024 India Open quarter-finals.

Naraoka also won their first match in the 2023 Malaysia Open first round.

In the second round on Thursday, Zii Jia is set to face Singapore’s 2021 world champion Low Kean Yew, who ousted Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long 21-12, 21-17.

Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Chen Tan Jie-Toh Ee Wei also progressed to the last 16 after stunning Thailand’s world number six pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-14, 12-21, 21-15.

It was only their second win in seven matches against the Thai pair.

Tan Jie-Ee Wei, the world number nine pair, would face the winner between Denmark’s Mathias Thyrri-Amalie Magelund and Dutch pair Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek for a quarter-final slot.

However, two-time junior world champion Goh Jin Wei crashed out, losing 15-21, 20-22 against world number six, He Bing Jiao of China. — Bernama