Odense: Lee Zii Jia progressed to the Denmark Open quarter-finals after his opponent from the host country, and the world’s No. 1 player, Viktor Axelsen, chose to retire due to leg injury.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has confirmed that Axelsen’s decision was because of an injury to his left leg.
“The prominent Viktor Axelsen pulled out of the 2023 Denmark Open due to an injury. Hence, Lee Zii Jia, his competitor in the round of 16, moved ahead to the quarter-finals,” the BWF reported.
On the other hand, Axelsen expressed his dismay over not participating this time. He remarked, “It saddens me not to compete today. I cherish playing in Odense and for the Danish supporters, but it’s unsafe for me now. I aim to commence my recovery soon and get back on the court.”
In the upcoming match, Lee is slated to play against the Japanese contender, Kenta Nishimoto. Nishimoto earned his spot by triumphing over Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen with scores of 10-21, 21-19, 21-14.
In a thrilling men’s doubles second match, Malaysia’s World No. 4 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik displayed a remarkable comeback, defeating Indonesia’s world No. 10, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan in 41 minutes.
The match, held at the Jyske Bank Arena, initially saw Chia/Soh trailing with a score of 16-21 in the first set. However, in a dramatic turnaround of the second set, the Chia/Soh dominated with a score of 21-5, pushing the match into the final set.
Though Setiawan/Ahsan took the lead early on, the tenacious duo of Chia/Soh didn’t give up and ultimately securing a 21-15 win.
After their triumphant victory, Chia/Soh are set to face off against China’s world No. 252 pair He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu for a place in the semi-finals. Despite the significant disparity in world rankings between the Malaysian and the Chinese duo, the latter must be regarded as formidable adversaries and should not be taken lightly.
Another Malaysian men’s doubles pair, the world No. 9 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi also successfully registered for the top 8 of the Denmark Open.
Ong/Teo triumphed over Japan’s Akira Koga/Taichi Saito with scores of 21-17, 22-20, marking their second successive win against the Japanese duo. Their previous victory took place during the first round of this year’s India Open.
In their upcoming match, Ong/Teo are slated to compete with the Danish duo and 2023 world championships runners-up, Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, in the quarterfinals.
On the other hand, Malaysia’s mixed doubles team, Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei, were unable to replicate their previous success against the Thai pair, Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai, from last week’s Arctic Open. They were eliminated with scores of 15-21, 12-21 against the same rivals in the current Denmark Open tournament.
