BWF Arctic Open 2023: Lee Zii Jia beats Anders Antonsen to reach first World Tour final in a year
Lee Zii Jia will meet compatriot Ng Tze Yong in the men's singles final while Han Yue and Wang Zhi Yi will be involved in an all-Chinese women's singles final.
Badminton
Malaysia's badminton ace Lee Zii Jia reached his first BWF World Tour final in a year after beating Anders Antonsen of Denmark 21-17, 13-8 at the Arctic Open 2023 in Vantaa, Finland on Saturday (14 October).
Lee will now face Ng Tze Yong in an all-Malaysian final that will be broadcast live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app (territorial restrictions apply).
Three-time world medallist Antonsen retired shortly after the second game's midpoint break trailing 8-13, handing Lee the victory.
In doing so, Lee reached his first final on the BWF World Tour since the Denmark Open a year ago where he lost to Shi Yuqi of the People's Republic of China.
At the mid-set break, Lee held a slim one-point lead over the Dane and although he opened a three-point cushion he could not quite shake Antonsen.
Lee found some ascendancy towards the end of the first game going five points (19-14) clear of his opponent. Antonsen launched a mini fightback winning three points in a row. But the Malaysian remained composed to take the game 21-17.
Lee who reached three semi-finals this year at the All England, Swiss Open, and Australian Open, continued where he left off in the second game opening up an early three-point advantage (4-1) no doubt raising his hopes of a breakthrough in a frustrating year. Antonsen clawed his way back to level the scores at 6-6.
Lee counterpunched scoring three consecutive points before play was suspended for seven minutes with the Malaysian leading the game 9-6. The delay did not seem to faze the 25-year-old as he extended his lead to 13-8. The match was again suspended with Antonsen receiving medical attention before he retired hurt.
Earlier, Ng Tze Yong was in scorching form in his semi-final victory over Japan’s Tsuneyama Kanta. Ng steamrolled Tsuneyama 21-12, 21-16 to earn his place in the final of the BWF World Tour event.
In women's singles, Han Yue of the People's Republic of China beat world number 12 Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 24-22, 21-19. Han will meet compatriot Wang Zhi Yi after she beat India’s Sindhu V. Pusarla 21-12, 11-21, 21-7.
The BWF Arctic Open 2023 is a Super 500 event with qualifying points for the Paris 2024 Olympics on offer. The tournament concludes on Sunday 15 October, with daily coverage live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app (territorial restrictions apply).