Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia hits a return against India’s Kidambi Srikanth during their men’s singles elimination badminton match at the BWF World Tour Finals in Nusa Dua, Bali, December 3, 2021. — Badminton Association of Indonesia handout pic via AFP
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — National men’s singles ace, Lee Zii Jia, concluded his final Group B match with another win, this time over K Srikanth in the BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Tour Finals 2021 in Bali, Indonesia.
The world number eight maintained his 100 per cent winning record in the tournament after he swept past the Indian player 21-19, 21-14 in the event held in Bali International Convention Centre, Nusa Dua.
The win saw Zii Jia progress to the semi-final as Group B champion while Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand was also through as runner-up.
Meanwhile, up-and-coming women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah suffered their second loss at the hands of Tokyo Olympics gold medallist, Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu, 18-21, 11-21, and thus, ending their journey in Bali, after they finished third in Group A.
In the meantime, mixed doubles duo Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing were also eliminated after they ended the campaign at the bottom of the Group A, following a 15-21, 17-21 defeat to Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje.
The other Group A match saw Rio 2016 silver medallists, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying finishing second best after they lost to the eventual group champion, Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino, 11-21 12-21.
In men’s doubles Group B match, national professional duo Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, who had already booked their semi-final berth yesterday, failed to chalk up their third victory in a row as they went down fighting to Japanese pair Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi 19-21, 21-12, 10-21. — Bernama