BWF Hong Kong Open 2023: Lee Zii Jia eliminated in three-game thriller, Yamaguchi progresses

Malaysia badminton star Lee Zii Jia suffered a heart-breaking loss to Lee Chia Hao in Round 2 of the men's singles, while women's top seed Yamaguchi Akane beat Kirsty Gilmour to make the quarter-finals.

2 minBy Olympics.com
Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia was in fine form beating Sameer Verma of India in straight games at the Malaysia Masters.

Lee Zii Jia was eliminated in Round 2 of badminton's BWF Hong Kong Open 2023, going down 21-19, 17-21, 20-22 to Lee Chia Hao on Thursday, 14 September.

In a thrilling opening game, in which the lead exchanged hands several times, unseeded Malaysian Lee managed to win four-consecutive points when it mattered most to go 1-0 up.

That seemed to spur Republic of China shuttler Lee into action, and he raced into the lead in the second game, and never gave up the lead to level the match at 1-1.

The decider didn't disappoint, with neither man able to pull away at 20-20.

From there, it was a case of who would hold their nerve the best, and it was Lee Chia Hao who secured the two points needed for victory and progress to the men's singles quarter-finals.

Lee will take on the winner of No. 5 seed Jonatan Christie and Lee Cheuk Yui in the quarter-finals.

Earlier in the day, women's singles top seed Yamaguchi Akane advanced to the quarters courtesy of a 7-21, 21-16, 26-24 victory over Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour.

The Japanese' next opponent will be USA No. 7 seed Beiwen Zhang.

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