BWF Australian Open 2023: Lee Zii Jia narrowly squeaks into quarter-finals; Jonatan Christie out
The world number 17 is through to his first World tour quarter-final since March after narrowly eliminating India's Mithun Manhunath. Lee's teammate Ng Tze Yong took out Indonesia's Christie.
Badminton
Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia won his second consecutive match at the badminton Australian Open 2023 on Thursday (3 August) to reach his first BWF World Tour quarter-final in nearly five months.
The 25-year-old was pitted against Indian underdog Mithun Manjunath, who had already eliminated 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew, and got off to a strong start by taking the opening game 21-13.
However, after a tight start to the second game in which Lee reached the mid-game interval one point ahead at 11-10, the Malaysian seemed to let nerves get the better of him as he only won one further point to let Mithun back in it.
The decider started brightly again for Lee, who opened up a six-point lead more than once.
But Mithun fought back to level the scores at 16-all and 19-all to give the Malaysian a fright, before Lee closed out the narrow 21-12, 12-21, 21-19 win.
It means Lee is through to his first quarter-final match at a World Tour event since March's Swiss Open, and he will face Malaysian teammate Ng Tze Yong in the last eight.
Ng was the surprise victor against Indonesia's seventh seed Jonatan Christie in straight games 22-20, 21-15, which keeps him in the hunt for a Paris 2024 qualifying spot ahead of Lee.
If one, or both, of the Malaysians finishes outside the top 16 in the final BWF Olympic qualifying rankings, only the top-ranked player between them will qualify, and Ng currently sits 24th while Lee is 28th.