{"id":13522,"date":"2022-03-19T15:40:18","date_gmt":"2022-03-19T07:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=13522"},"modified":"2022-03-19T15:40:20","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T07:40:20","slug":"zii-jia-soars-past-momota-to-reach-all-england-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=13522","title":{"rendered":"Zii Jia soars past Momota to reach All England semi-finals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — Malaysian badminton ace\u00a0 Lee Zii Jia extended his dominance at the Utilita Arena Birmingham after knocking out\u00a0second-seeded Kento Momota of Japan to reach the All England semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his men\u2019s singles quarter-final match on Friday (early Saturday in Malaysia), Zii Jia, the defending champion, produced a \u201cwinning mentality\u201d performance by recording a 21-7, 13-21, 21-11 win over the two-time world champion and current world number two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the boisterous backing from the Malaysian supporters at the venue, the national top men\u2019s singles shuttler leapt to an astonishing 17-1 lead over Momota before winning the opening game 21-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Japanese once was down 3-9 in the second set but managed to pull off ten successive points to take the match to a decider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"momota\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the rubber set, both started the match impressively until 11-11 before Zii Jia changed his approach turning defense into attack, and pulled away with 10\u00a0consecutive points to wrap up the match in 64 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a wind difference on the court and in the first set, Momota couldn\u2019t control the shuttle and the pace very well. I had\u00a0the same problem in the second set.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tried to speed up the game in the rubber and focus on my attacking shots. The strategy worked well and this win will give me lots of confidence,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Zii Jia\u00a0said to the All England official media after the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result saw Zii Jia record his third win over Momota in their 11 meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the semi-finals, Zii Jia is set to lock horns with India\u2019s Lakhsya Sen who benefited from a walkover as China\u2019s Lu Guang Zu withdrew due to a back injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other semi-finals clash will see 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Viktor Axelsen of Denmark face off against Taiwanese Chou Tien Chen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World number one Axelsen easily beat Indonesia\u2019s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-4, 21-9 in the quarter-finals while Chou defeated another Indonesian shuttler, Jonatan Christie, 21-10, 21-15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the national mixed doubles pair of Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing were beaten by China\u2019s Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong 15-21, 15-21 in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NMT<\/a> as reported by Bernama<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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