KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 – Malaysian number one Lee Zii Jia fought tooth and nail to survive the first round and stay in contention at the Hylo Badminton Open which offers USD320,000 in prize money in Saarbrucken, Germany on Wednesday.
The reigning All-England champion, who is having a roller coaster run in Europe, was made to slog for his 21-11, 21-23, 24-22 win over unseeded Pablo Abian of Spain within 54 minutes. His second round opponent will be Nhat Nguyen of Ireland.
The Super 500 event also saw the exit of top seed and favourite Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
Runners-up at last week’s Yonex French Open in Paris, the Taiwanese is also feeling the strain of fatigue and went out to Singapore’s Penang-born Loh Kean Yew in straight games 18-21, 13-21.
Newly formed Malaysian pair Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kiong moved into the second round after defeating Japan’s Takuto Inoue-Kenya Mistsuhashi 21-10, 21-15. Their second round opponents are Indonesians Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan.
Another newly formed professional pair Goh V Shem-Low Juan Shen failed to get past the first round – losing 21-19, 19-21, 15-21. Also losing were fifth seeds Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi who fell in straight games 12-21, 19-21 to Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin.
In the mixed doubles, Malaysia’s up and coming Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei overcame Lee Jhe Huei-Hsu Ya Ching of Chinese Taipei 16-21, 21-14, 21-14. In the second round the Malaysians face a England’s Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith.
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