Lee Zii Jia was pushed to the limit before winning his opening match at the Hylo Open, battling for close to an hour before overcoming Spaniard Pablo Abian 21-11, 21-23, 24-22 on Wednesday.
Lee was fielded despite not being confirmed to compete in this tournament initially, but the world number eight was clearly still struggling to find his best form after he was given a mighty scare by an opponent 13 years his senior and significantly lower on the world rankings.
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The All-England champion next takes on Irish shuttler Nhat Nguyen, who is coached by former national shuttler Iskandar Zulkarnain.
RESULTS: HYLO Open 2021
— BAM (@BA_Malaysia) November 3, 2021
R32#MAS?? Lee Zii Jia(2) def. #ESP?? Pablo Abian 21-11 21-23 24-22
? @badmintonphoto #DemiMalaysia#BadmintonMalaysia pic.twitter.com/92m3Iw0ybZ
In the women’s doubles, Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien finally cleared a first round hurdle but not before being made to slog hard for a 21-23, 21-18, 21-17 victory over Danish pair Alexandra Boje-Mette Poulsen.
Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei also made it through in the mixed doubles after they beat Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei-Hsu Ya Ching 18-21, 21-14, 21-14, while new pairing Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kiong beat Japan’s Takuto Inoue-Kenya Mitsuhashi 21-10, 21-15.
But it was not a good outing otherwise for the national contingent as all the other doubles pairing crashed out.
The men’s doubles saw Indonesian young duo Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin easily overcome Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-12, 21-19, while Goh V Shem-Low Juan Shen were upstaged by Chinese Taipei’s Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han 19-21, 21-19, 21-15.
Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying and Liew Daren meanwhile had already suffered first-round exits on Tuesday.
