Arctic Open: Zii Jia reflects on a good run, gets support from Antonsen

Lee Zii Jia will only take the good from a productive week at the Arctic Open, which ended for him after a three-game defeat to Anders Antonsen in the men’s singles semi-finals on Saturday.

The 78-minute thriller went the way of the Dane, who was pushed to the wire by Lee before he prevailed 21-11, 15-21, 21-16.

“There are so many positive aspects for me to take from this week. I will continue to keep going. The difference today was that he (Antonsen) was physically better than me. He also knew when to conserve his energy,” Lee said, adding his close friend also gave him some motivation post-match.

“He said ‘welcome back’ and I responded ‘I hope so’. He immediately told me not to doubt myself. That means a lot. Especially after all the struggles. I hope this time is a great comeback for me.”

The fact that Lee had eliminated world number two Christo Popov in the last eight, before giving world number six Antonsen a run for his money is a massive step in the right direction for the Malaysian.

He is beginning to play true to his abilities again, and the confidence gained from Finland should only serve him well in his upcoming competitions.