Tokyo: The No. 5 seed Lee Zii Jia got off to a strong start in round one of the 2022 World Championships on Monday with a 21-9, 21-13 win over French Brice Leverdez in 39 minutes.
Lee Zii Jia, Ng Tze Yong, Daren Liew at 2022 World Championships:
(source: Astro Arena)
“So far, I am doing quite good. It’s been a while since I last competed at an international tournament, I am very excited,” said Lee.
“I skipped the Commonwealth Games to prepare for this World Championships. I want to be the first Malaysian to win this title,” added Lee.
Lee moved on to face Portugal’s Bernardo Atilano in the second round. Atilano got a bye in the first round.
Malaysia’s World No. 42 Ng Tze Yong proved that he could be one of the strong contenders for the World title after successfully advancing to the second round.
Ng produced a brilliant display to eliminate the 2022 Malaysia Masters champion, Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia 21-16, 21-10 in the first round action that took place at the Metropolitan Gymnasium Tokyo.
For the record, it was Ng’s second consecutive victory over Chico after beating the same opponent at the Indonesian International Challenge in 2019.
“So, I want to make the most out of this opportunity to be able to compete here,” said Ng.
“I try not to give myself too much pressure, and I want to forget about the Commonwealth Games and start from scratch in Tokyo,” added Ng.
Waiting for Tze Yong in the second round is the Thai player, Sitthikom Thammasin, who advanced after upsetting No. 13 seed Kanta Tsuneyama 13-21, 21-16, 21-13 of Japan in another first-round action.
Meanwhile, the challenge of another Malaysian men’s singles player, Daren Liew ended in the first round after losing to the world number one player from Denmark, Viktor Axelsen 16-21, 12-21.
Axelsen will play Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands in the next round.
Also advancing Monday was Shi Yuqi, who was banned from competition by the China Badminton Association last October. Playing in his first tournament in 10 months, Shi picked up a 22-20, 21-10 winner over Ade Resky Dwicahyo of Azerbaijan. The unseeded Shi will meet No. 11 seed Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in the second round.
