Huelva: Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia had to fight hard to hold off Brazil’s World No. 50 Ygor Coelho on Wednesday, edging to a 21-14, 22-24, 21-14 in 58 minutes to reach the third round of the 2021 BWF World Championships.
“The first set, he was too fast for me,” said the Brazillian after the match.
“I tried to play different strokes, adding more variation so that I don’t play the same tactic every time. His around the head was too good, and I tried to find openings on his forehand side,” added Coelho.
“In the second set, I was behind, and I didn’t think too much, just focusing on the game. Fortunately, I was able to win that game and force the decider,” explained Coelho.
“I was giving Lee more flat shots in the decider. He was more experienced and was able to find openings. He played a very tight net and was expecting me to lift the shuttlecock. He was able to read my playing style,” concluded Coelho.
Meanwhile, talking to the reporter after the match, Lee praised Coelho for giving him a spirited challenge.
“Ygor played a very good game today. Everyone is very tired both mentally and physically especially players who have been playing non-stop since the Sudirman Cup until this World Championships,” said Lee.
“Many top players have been knocked out of the tournament, and for me, I just want to enjoy and try to have fun on the court,” added Lee.
“I already planned for the worst going into the third set, because, there’s the possibility that I could lose to Ygor. Luckily I won the match,” continued Lee.
Lee will play Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus in the third round. The World No. 21 Vittinghus on the other hand, pulled off an upset to beat World No. 11 Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in the second round.
Another Malaysian men’s singles player, the World No. 36 Daren Liew lost to World No. 32 HS Prannoy of India 7-21, 17-21 on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, after losing the second game to World No. 27 Zhang Nan/Ou Xuan Yi of China, Malaysia’s World No. 7 men’s doubles pair – Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik regrouped and restored the order on the court with faster attacks, especially towards Zhang Nan, while pressuring Ou to make mistakes with exceptional defense, coming back from a one-set deficit to beat the Chinese pair 21-18, 20-22, 21-16 to reach the third round.
Chia/Soh will take on another Chinese pair, the World No. 24 He Ji Ting/Tan Qiang next.
Although it has been nearly half-year since they decided to end their men’s doubles partnership, the Rio Olympics silver medalists – Tan Wee Kiong/Goh V Shem of Malaysia proved they still had it by overcoming the World No. 56 Hiroki Okamura/Masayuki Onodera 21-15, 22-24, 21-16 in 66 minutes.
Tan/Goh will take on Bjarne Geiss/Jan Colin Völker of Germany on Thursday.
In mixed doubles competition, Malaysia’s Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai saw off Supak Jomkoh/Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand 21-13, 21-16 to play Yeung Ming Nok/Ng Tsz Yau of Hong Kong in the third round.
