Vantaa: Malaysian badminton standouts Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong have carved their path to the Arctic Open men’s singles finals. This achievement marks a first since the Badminton World Federation (BWF) instituted the world tour system in 2018, where two Malaysian men’s singles contenders will spar in the final showdown. The last time two Malaysian players met in the final of a BWF event was during the 2016 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold, featuring Lee Chong Wei and Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, where Lee Chong Wei won 21-18, 21-11.
During the semi-finals on Saturday, the World No. 14 Lee Zii Jia squared off with Denmark’s World No. 10 Anders Antonsen. The match was unexpectedly cut short at 21-17, 13-8 when Antonsen bowed out due to an injury, clearing the path for Lee Zii Jia to the finals. It’s worth highlighting an unusual incident during their bout: the game was briefly halted when water seeped onto the court with Lee leading the second set at 9-6.
Previously, in the quarter-finals, Lee’s match against fellow Malaysian, Leong Jun Hao, saw another abrupt end. Lee, who was ahead at 21-16, 19-21, 11-7, watched as Leong had to retire after injuring his left foot.
Lee Zii Jia, having graced 18 tournaments this year, marked his fourth semi-final spot, advancing to the finals for the first time since last year’s Danish Super 750 in October.
On the other side of the draw, Ng Tze Yong, World No. 19, impressively dispatched China’s 4th-seed Lu Guangzu and Chinese Taipei’s 5th-seed Chou Tien Chen. In his semi-final match, he conquered the Japanese 7th-seed, Kanta Tsuneyama (world’s No. 16), with a scoreline of 21-12, 21-16. This win extended his flawless record against Tsuneyama to 3-0.
Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong had met once at the BWF World Tour tournament in the 2023 Australian Open quarter-finals, as Lee Zii Jia defeated Ng Tze Yong 17-21, 26-24, 21-19.
In an intense men’s doubles contest, the pairing of Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun, ranked 23rd globally, weathered fierce competition from the World No. 29 Denmark duo, Rasmus Kjær/Frederik Søgaard. The gripping match ended with Man/Tee edging out a 19-21, 21-19, 21-19 victory. Their next challenge lies in confronting Denmark’s World No. 7 pair, Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, in the finals. The Danish duo secured their spot after besting Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan 21-19, 21-12.
Elsewhere in the tournament, China showcased its badminton prowess by asserting dominance in the mixed doubles and women’s singles brackets. Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping are set to face fellow countrymen Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin in the mixed doubles finale. In the women’s singles, Han Yue will clash with Wang Zhi Yi. The women’s doubles sees China’s 7th-seeded pair, Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning, pitted against Thailand’s 2nd-seeded duo, Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai.
