BWF Hong Kong Open 2023: Lee Zii Jia eases into second round - Viktor Axelsen out
Lee Zii Jia is through to round two while top seed Viktor Axelsen has suffered a shock exit.
Badminton
Lee Zii Jia is through to round two at the BWF Hong Kong Open 2023.
Malaysia's badminton star eliminated Zhao Jun Peng (People's Republic of China) 21-17, 21-16 on Wednesday (13 September)
The unseeded Lee, who suffered his fifth first round exit of the season last week at the China Open, was always in control and simply overpowered his opponent in the second set, leading by as many as seven points at one stage.
Lee is keen on earning more crucial qualifying points for Paris 2024 at this BWF World Tour Super 500 event.
Next up for the star shuttler is Lee Chia-hao (Chinese Taipei) who upset Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen 21-16, 21-10.
The 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew has also crashed out in round one losing 21-12, 17-21, 13-21 to France's Christo Popov.
Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting had little trouble defeating Brian Yang (Canada) 21-9, 21-14 to set up a second round encounter with Malaysia's Leong Yun Hao. His compatriot Jonatan Christie is also through.
Earlier in the day, women's singles top seed Yamaguchi Akane and Spain's Rio 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin advanced to the second round.