New Delhi: Lee Zii Jia secures a spot in the quarterfinals of the 2024 India Open. In Thursday’s intense battle of the round of 16, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, faced Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie. After two hard-fought sets, Lee Zii Jia emerged victorious with scores of 21-15, 21-13, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Highlights of Lee Zii Jia vs. Jonatan Christie in the 2024 India Open second round:
In the opening set, Lee Zii Jia quickly took a 3-0 lead, but Jonatan equalized at 5-all. Despite a challenge by Lee Zii Jia on a seemingly out-of-bounds shot, which was unsuccessful, Jonatan led 9-6. Quickly entering the technical timeout at 11-10, Lee Zii Jia surged ahead to 16-12, denying any chance of a comeback and securing the first set at 21-15.
In the second set, after Jonatan took an initial 1-0 lead, Lee Zii Jia scored three consecutive points, leading 4-1. Maintaining his momentum, Lee Zii Jia entered the technical timeout at 11-6. From that point on, Lee Zii Jia’s game flowed smoothly, maintaining a lead and ultimately winning 21-13.
This marks the ninth encounter between the two, with Lee Zii Jia securing his fifth consecutive victory since the 2020 All England Open. Lee Zii Jia’s next opponent is the winner between Japan’s Kodai Narakoa or Takuma Obayashi.
In other matches, both Chinese ace Li Shifeng and Thailand’s world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn suffered defeats in the round of 16.
Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong clinches a hard-fought victory over Vitidsarn 16-21, 22-20, 23-21, ending a three-match losing streak to the Thai world champion. While Li Shifeng lost to Koki Watanabe 14-21, 21-13, 9-21.
The men’s doubles saw Malaysia’s Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik defeated Kenya Mitsuhashi/Hiroki Okamura 21-10, 21-14 to set up quarter-final match against Liu Yu Chen/Ou Xuan Yi of China.
