Kuala Lumpur: Now that he’s finally survived a gutsy and narrow win against teammate Soong Joo Ven in his first qualifying match with a thrilling 21-23, 21-13, 24-22 win, followed by a 21-17, 21-16 victory against Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand in the second qualifying match on Tuesday, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia just couldn’t wait to meet World No. 1 Kento Momota of Japan in the second round of Malaysia Masters.
Before that, the 20-year-old needed to get past Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand on Wednesday in order to earn the right to take on the World No. 1 Japanese in the second round.
Lee, who experienced a breakthrough victory last year when he won the 2018 Taiwan Open, was rested for few weeks due to a persistent lower back injury, before losing to Son Wan Ho in the Korea Masters final on Dec 2, 2018.
“Of course, I’m excited to play against the World No. 1 Momota. It’s going to be a good experience for me,” said Lee.
“Although the odds of beating him are slim, but I’ll focus on my preparation.”
“However, I still need to get through the first round on Wednesday before meeting Momota,” added Lee.
Both player have met each other once in the semi-finals of the 2017 Czech Republic International Challenge where Lee lost to Momota 8-21, 10-21.
