Jakarta: Malaysia’s men’s singles World No. 5 Lee Zii Jia overcame the first hurdle of the 2022 Indonesian Open after beating Thai player Sitthikom Thammasin at the Istora Senayan Stadium on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old from Malaysia needed 41 minutes before taming the unseeded World No. 32 from Thailand 21-15, 21-14 to face World No. 30 Sameer Verma of India in the second round.
After the match, Lee wasn’t too happy with his performance in the first round.
“I am not 100 percent satisfied, I need to reduce simple mistakes and increase the level of focus,” said Lee.
Nevertheless, Lee who lost to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in the Indonesia Masters quarter-finals last week was hoping to do better at the Indonesia Open.
“Since it’s two tournaments in a row, I think most of the players are a bit tired. It’s a challenge to be mentally and physically fresh,” added Lee.
Meanwhile, the World No. 14 mixed doubles pair from Malaysia – Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai toiled for 69 minutes before stunning the World No. 1 Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand 21-18, 7-21, 22-20.
Goh/Lai will take on compatriots Hoo Pang Ron/Toh Ee Wei in the next round.
In men’s doubles, World No. 10 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi from Malaysia got off to a strong start to beat Jeppe Bay/Lasse Molhede of Denmark 21-14, 21-14 and will take on No. 3 seeds Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi of Japan.
Vivian Hoo/Lim Chiew Sien of Malaysia also got past the first round test by outlasting Jaqueline Lima/Samia Lima of Brazil 21-10, 21-5 in the first round. They will next play Du Yue/Li Wen Mei of China.
