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KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Lee Zii Jia, the best ace in national singles, is one match away from claiming his first All England title after beating Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands 21-13,21-17 in Birmingham on Saturday (21 March).
Sixth-seeded Zii Jia was in majestic form when he swept the Dutchman in back-to-back games at Utilita Arena.
Caljouw were no match for Zii Jia in the first game, but the Dutchman was a transformed player in the second, trailing by just one point, 10-11, in the interval.
Caljouw took advantage of Zii Jia’s hesitation to take a 16-15 lead, but that was the wake-up call the 22-year-old from Alor Setar needed to regain his composure, fight back and return home 21-17.
With this victory, Zii Jia has improved his record throughout England. Last year, the Malaysian fell short when he lost 21-17,13-21,19-21 to eventual winner Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the last four.
Zii Jia will now face the winner of the Danes clash between second seed Axelsen and third seed Anders Antonsen in the other semi-final, to be played later on Saturday night (Sunday morning Malaysian time).
This will be Zii Jia’s best chance to win the silver medal after a disastrous start so far this year.
He started the year by losing to second seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan in the quarterfinals of the Yonex Thailand Open before crashing in the first round to Indian Sameer Verman at the Toyota Thailand Open in January.
Zii Jia’s poor form continued as he lost all three of his games at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals, also held in Bangkok in the same month, before eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand showed him the exit 18-21.10 -21 in the semifinals of the Swiss Open in 2021 earlier this month.
Earlier, Japanese couple Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo surprised Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia 21-14.22-20 to qualify for the mixed doubles final on Saturday.
The last time Malaysia tasted a victory at All England was in 2017 when Datuk Lee Chong Wei beat Shi Yu Qi of China 21-12,21-10 in the men’s singles final. – Bernama
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