All England Open 2024: Lee Zii Jia brushes off Loh Kean Yew in quick win to reach quarter-finals
Lee Zii Jia's love affair with the All England Open Badminton Championships continues after winning through to the 2024 quarter-finals on Thursday (14 March) afternoon, live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the offical Olympics app (territorial restrictions may apply)..
The Malaysian, who has reached at least the last four in Birmingham in each of the last four editions of the All England and won the title in 2021, beat Singaporean 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew in a one-sided affair to seal his last-eight spot.
Lee took a big early advantage, racing away to an 8-0 lead in the first and Loh struggled to gain any sort of foothold in the match.
The only time Loh had a lead of any kind was at the very start of the second game, taking the first point before Lee once more imposed himself on the match, eventually winning 21-15, 21-12 in just 33 minutes.
Lakshya Sen awaits Lee in the last eight.
Indonesia's fifth-seeded Anthony Ginting has also reached the last eight, beating Japan's Nishimoto Kenta in a 54-minute duel.
Ginting had to fight back from an early six-point deficit in the first game, but eventually triumphed 21-18, 21-19. He next faces world number one and top seed Viktor Axelsen, who beat Weng Hongyang 21-19, 21-14.
Fellow Indonesian Jonatan Christie is also through, having defeated reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in a three-game thriller 21-19, 18-21, 21-13.
Meanwhile, Lee's temporary sparring partner in Birmingham, India's PV Sindhu, was knocked out of the women's singles by top seed An Seyoung of Republic of Korea.
With no other Malaysian singles players at the All England, Lee had called upon Sindhu's help as their coaches are friends. However, Sindhu was eliminated in a 21-19, 21-11 reverse by An.
