Birmingham: Malaysia’s World No. 4 Lee Zii Jia was shutting his critics up with a three-setter victory on Friday to advance to the 2023 All England semi-finals.
Lee was strong on both defense and offense to see off World No. 6 Kodai Naraoka 21-9, 10-21, 21-13 in 67 minutes.
Highlights of Lee Zii Jia vs. Kodai Naraoka in 2023 All England quarter-finals:
“Starting from the first match, I didn’t think that far,” said Lee.
“As you might have known, I have a tough opening this year, it didn’t go well for me,” added Lee.
“Right now, I am just trying to focus one match at a time, and to regain my confidence,” explained Lee.
Lee will play World No. 12 Shi Yuqi of China next. The last time both Lee and Shi met was in the 2022 Denmark Open final, where Lee lost to Shi 18-21, 21-16, and 12-21.
Shi advanced to the final four after defeating compatriot Weng Hong Yan 21-9, 21-16 in another quarter-final action.
Meanwhile, World No. 28 Ng Tze Yong was a little passive facing World No. 14 Li Shi Feng of China compared to his performance when he beat World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the second round. Not sure if he was too tired from the battle against Axelsen, Ng didn’t attack much, and he wasn’t able to defend against smashes from Li Shi Feng. Ng ended up losing his fourth head-to-head meeting against Li with 11-21, 11-21. Li will play Anders Antonsen of Denmark on Saturday.
Highlights of Ng Tze Yong vs. Li Shi Feng in 2023 All England quarter-finals:
“I am quite disappointed for this match because I didn’t put up a strong fight at all,” said Ng.
“But I did my best, even though I was behind by so much and I still tried to chase the points in the second set,” added Ng.
Below are other All England semi-final actions on Saturday:
Men’s Doubles:
Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto vs. He Ji Ting/Zhou Hao Dong
Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan vs. Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang
Women’s Singles:
Akane Yamaguchi/Chen Yu Fei
Tai Tzu Ying/An Se Young
Women’s Doubles:
Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand Pullela vs. Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee
Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong vs. Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu
Mixed Doubles:
Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong vs. Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Lisa Ayu Kusumawati
Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung vs. Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun
