Perseorangan lelaki nombor satu negara, Lee Zii Jia, melangkah ke separuh akhir Kejohanan Badminton Seluruh England dengan menewaskan jaguh China, Chen Long, di Arena Birmingham sebentar tadi.
Berdasarkan tiga pertemuan terdahulu, Zii Jia hanya menang sekali, iaitu dalam pusingan kedua Terbuka Indonesia tahun lalu.
Tetapi kali ini, pemain kelahiran Alor Setar itu membuktikan bahawa dia pemain yang lebih baik apabila menumbangkan bekas pemenang pingat emas Sukan Olimpik Rio 2016 berkenaan 21-12, 21-18.
Kawalan gelanggang yang baik membuktikan kematangan Zii Jia dalam membaca permainan pemain nombor lima dunia itu sehingga Chen Long pada beberapa ketika seakan-akan buntu untuk memecahkan pertahanan pemain yang sembilan tahun lebih muda daripadanya itu.
Akur tewas mudah dalam set pertama, pemain China itu mula memperkemaskan aksinya untuk mengekor rapat setiap mata yang diraih Zii Jia, namun terpaksa akur gagal ke separuh akhir selepas 48 minit permainan.
Muzaffar Musa
Fri Mar 13 2020
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Perseorangan lelaki nombor satu negara, Lee Zii Jia, melangkah ke separuh akhir Kejohanan Badminton Seluruh England dengan menewaskan jaguh China, Chen Long, di Arena Birmingham sebentar tadi.
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