PARIS, Aug 5 — National men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia today won the bronze medal after an exciting match against India’s Lakshya Sen at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Zii Jia won 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 against Lakshya in a 71-minute match at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
After losing the first set, Zii Jia came back from behind to win a nail-biting second set, giving him a chance to gain the lead and win the decider.
This will be the Malaysian’s first Olympic medal and the second bronze for Malaysia in Paris.
In their previous encounters, Lakshya has faced Zii Jia five times in the past and won four of those matches.
In their most recent match at the All England Championships earlier this year, Lakshya overcame a one-set deficit to defeat Zii Jia 20-22, 21-16, 21-19 in the quarter-finals.
Zii Jia won 21-17, 21-15 against world number three player Anders Antonsen from Denmark before advancing to the semis, where the world number seven was defeated 14-21, 15-21 by reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the semi-finals yesterday.
Lakshya lost 20-22, 14-21 against reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen from Denmark in the semis. Axelsen was trailing in both games but made stunning comebacks to advance to the finals.
