Bangkok: Malaysia’s World No. 6 Lee Zii Jia kicked off his 2022 Thailand Open campaign with an easy win over Ade Resky Dwicahyo of Azerbaijan at Impact Arena, in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The men’s singles No. 6 seed needed only 36 minutes to see off the Indonesian-born Dwicahyo 21-19, 21-9 to enter the second round.
Lee will face World No. 82 Kai Schaefer of Germany in the second round.
The World No. 34 Daren Liew also advanced to the second round by beating HS Prannoy of India 21-17, 15-21, 21-15 in 65 minutes. World No. 23 Prannoy was instrumental in helping India won their historic Thomas Cup title last Sunday. Prannoy defeated Leong June Hao of Malaysia in the Thomas Cup quarter-final to help India beat Malaysia 3-2, and then outlasted Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in the third men’s singles match to give India a 3-2 victory against Denmark in the Thomas Cup semi-final.
Liew will next play Koki Watanabe of Japan.
Meanwhile, China’s Zhao Jun Peng has put a reality check on Japan’s World No. 2 Kento Momota’s playing form. The second seed Japanese seemed to have lost his touches and focus on the court, going down easily to Zhao 8-21, 11-21 in just 29 minutes. Zhao will face Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand on Thursday.
In addition to Momota, the No. 3 seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark was also stunned by Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia 21-17, 19-21, 16-21.
The men’s doubles event saw two Malaysian men’s pairs made the second round. The No. 6 seeds Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik will take on unseeded Lee Jhe-Huei/Yang Po-Hsuan of Chinese Taipei while Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin will play Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov of France in the next round.
