Putrajaya: Men’s singles No. 4 seed Lee Zii Jia gave a display of his resilience as he eased past Murad Ali of Pakistan 21-12, 21-14 in the men’s second round of the Malaysian International Series in Putrajaya on Thursday morning. Lee Zii Jia continued strong run in on Thursday night as he edged a fascinating, see-saw third round against No. 14 seed Ryan Ng Zin Rei of Singapore, beating the Singaporean 21-10, 23-21 in 28 minutes.
Lee is set to play compatriot No. 13 seed Soo Teck Zhi next.
Meanwhile, Soo Teck Zhi was made to work before seeing off compatriot Leong Jun Hao 21-16, 15-21, 21-18 in the third round.
In women’s singles, No. 1 seed Lee Ying Ying also had to dig deep to progress to the quarter-finals. The 19-year-old was struggling on Thursday evening, but created some momentum of her own in the decider to eventually beating Isra Faradilla of Indonesia 21-17, 16-21, 21-10 in their third-round clash. Lee will take on No. 7 seed Pattarasuda Chaiwan of Thailand on Friday.
Malaysia’s men’s doubles top seeds Lee Jian Yi/Lim Zhen Ting managed to advance into the quarter-finals. They will battle qualifiers Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif/Muhammad Syawal Mohd Ismail for a spot in the semi-finals.
