Arctic Open: Winning starts for Zii Jia, Tze Yong in Finland

Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong headlined Malaysia's entries into the Arctic Open second round with straight game victories over their opponents on Wednesday.

Ng set himself up to face either Zhao Jun Peng of China or fifth seed Chou Tien-chen after recording a second consecutive victory over Kantaphon Wangcharoen.

The world number 19, who beat the Thai last week at the Asian Games, replicated victory with another dominant 21-15, 21-16 win.

Ng was clearly playing better than Wangcharoen and capped the success with a sweet final point in the final rally of the match when his tiring opponent stroked the shuttle wide.

Lee then matched Ng's scoreline against Danish qualifier Mads Christophersen.

The Kedahan, who exited in the excruciating fashion at the Asian Games last eight, could potentially face Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo next.

In the men's doubles, recent Kaoshiung Masters champion Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin noted an impressive 21-18, 21-8 triumph over French pair Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar to set up a meeting against fourth seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Rasmussen.

Third seeds Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi also found their groove to outclass Scotland twins Christopher-Matthew Grimley in straight games, booking another Scottish test against Alexander Dunn-Adam Hall.

With quite a number of star names missing due to the Asian Games excursion and staying fresh for the more illustrious Denmark Open and French Open, it presented an opportunity for the Malaysian shuttlers to go the distance in Vantaa, Finland.