BWF China Masters 2023: Lee Zii Jia ends Ng Tze Yong's World Tour Finals hopes, Loh Kean Yew's season over with loss
World number 11 Lee beat his compatriot in Shenzhen, while Singapore's 2021 world champion Loh's season is over after a first-round defeat to second seed Anthony Ginting.
Badminton
Lee Zii Jia is through to the last 16 at the BWF China Masters 2023, knocking his Malaysian badminton compatriot Ng Tze Yong out in the process.
World number 11 Lee was made to work hard by his countryman in Shenzhen, with the men's singles first round match going the distance in a 75-minute tussle. The 25-year-old triumphed 21-15, 20-22, 21-17, on Wednesday (22 November), live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com.
At stake for both men were ranking points for the season-ending World Tour Finals, to be held next month in Hangzhou, also in the People's Republic of China.
With Kunlavut Vitidsarn automatically qualifying for Hangzhou as world champion, only the top seven on the season Race to Finals men's singles rankings are invited.
Ng was sat in eighth place heading into this tournament with only one other event – next week's Super 300 India International – left this season.
However, Ng is not due to take part in Lucknow which means he can no longer displace Anders Antonsen from seventh place.
Lee cannot qualify automatically for Hangzhou after his defeat to Antonsen in the last week's Kumamoto Japan Masters, but a higher ranking would increase his chances of being called up as an alternate in the event of injuries to qualifiers.
Only Japan's 10th-ranked Nishimoto Kenta remains with a chance of making the top seven but needs to win this tournament to move ahead of the Dane.
Lee's next opponent will be Chinese shuttler Lu Guangzu. Matches from the BWF China Masters 2023 are available to stream live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices, subject to territorial restrictions.
Elsewhere, Singapore's 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew saw his inconsistent season come to an early end as he was dumped out in the opening round by Indonesian world number two Anthony Ginting.
Ginting took the matchup 21-15, 21-19 in straight games. Loh is not entered in Lucknow next week and has not qualified for the Finals.
There was a major shock in the women's singles draw as unseeded Vietnamese player Nguyen Thuy Linh overcame Rio 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marín in three games.
Spanish fifth seed Marín appeared to be on course for a straightforward victory but lost her way, with Nguyen fighting back for a 10-21, 21-19, 21-15 triumph, including winning 12 of the last 14 points.