All England Open badminton 2023: Lee Zii Jia reaches second round with straightforward win as PV Sindhu and Jonatan Christie go out

Lee Zii Jia has safely progressed to the second round at the 2023 All England Open Championships with a brisk straight-games win on Wednesday (15 March).

The Malaysian fourth seed, who has struggled to find consistency on the BWF World Tour badminton circuit for the better part of nine months, required just 33 minutes to record a simple 21–12, 21–15 win over Sitthikom Thammasin in Birmingham, England.

Lee had opened a small 8–5 lead in the first before seeing his Thai opponent claw back to level the opening game. However, from there the Malaysian pulled away with 13 of the next 17 points to take the game.

Sitthikom also had a narrow advantage in the second at 9–7 up on the fourth seed, but Lee's class and experience told as he did not waver, reclaiming the deficit before hitting the front and never looking back.

Zii Jia now faces Japan's Nishimoto Kenta in the round of 16.

Elsewhere, former world number one Momota Kento was knocked out by young Thai star Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the clash of the day, 23-21, 21-15 the score.

Indonesia's Jonatan Christie was the biggest name to fall on day two with the number two seed outplayed by Weng Hongyang of the People's Republic of China.

Christie never got going in the first game and, having threatened a comeback midway through the second, the 27th-ranked Chinese left-hander went away again to win 21-6, 21-11.

In the women's singles, there was an early exit for India's two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu who went out 21-17, 21-11 to China's Zhang Yiman.

Rio 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin was pushed hard by Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour but managed to come up with big points when she needed them against her regular European rival.

The Spaniard eventually prevailed 21-19, 21-17 to reach the last 16.

Reigning champion Yamaguchi Akane wasted little time in moving through, taking just 30 minutes to beat Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt winning 21-9, 21-10. She now meets Germany's Yvonne Li.

Chinese Taipei's three-time winner Tai Tzu Ying made similarly serene progress, beating Kim Ga-eun of the Republic of Korea 21-10, 21-12.

Republic of Korea's number two seed An Se-young won by the same scoreline against defeating Chinese Taipei's Wen Chi Hsu.

The event is live to watch on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com in some regions. Click here for more.

• All England Open 2023 Badminton: All results and scores, complete list - day two, 15 March 2023
• All England Open badminton 2023: Loh Kean Yew suffers first-round exit
• All England Open badminton 2023: Denmark's Viktor Axelsen shuts down Lee Cheuk Yiu in opening round
• With All England looming, can Lee Zii Jia return to lofty heights?