Lee Zii Jia faces tough draw at Badminton BWF All England Open 2024
The 2021 champion of the world's oldest badminton tournament will face sixth-seeded Naraoka Kodai in the first round and could potentially encounter former world champion Loh Kean Yew next.
Badminton
Malaysia’s badminton ace Lee Zii Jia has been handed a challenging draw at All England Open 2024 next month, where he is set to face Naraoka Kodai in the first round.
In their past four encounters, Lee has only got the better of his Japanese opponent once. Most recently, in the quarter-finals at India Open last month, Naraoka defeated the Malaysian world No. 10 in three games.
If Lee manages to get past the sixth seed from Japan, he will potentially face either the 2021 men’s singles world champion, Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, or Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong China.
The Malaysian shuttler has faced challenges this season and has yet to progress beyond the quarter-finals in any competition this year.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion and top men’s seed Viktor Axelsen will face world No. 24 Kidambi Srikanth of India in the first round of the tournament. Last year’s winner Li Shifeng will take on France’s Toma Junior Popov.
In women’s singles, world No. 1 and defending champion An Se-young will begin her campaign against Chinese Taipei's Wen Chi Hsu, while reigning Olympic champion Chen Yufei meets Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam.
The All England Open 2024 takes place from 12-17 March.
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