Paris: Malaysia’s World No. 7 men’s singles player, Lee Zii Jia, anticipates a tough encounter against Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lee Zii Jia, who advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating host player France player Toma Junior Popov 21-13, 24-22 at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena on Thursday, mentioned that the last time he faced Antonsen was at the Malaysia Masters in May.
At that time, Lee Zii Jia, who finished as runner-up, defeated Antonsen in the quarterfinals 21-15, 19-21, 21-11 in a match lasting 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Friday’s match will be the ninth encounter between these two players, with Antonsen, currently ranked third in the world, holding a 5-3 head-to-head advantage.
“The last time at the Malaysia Masters was very intense, and this is the Olympics, so it’s going to be tougher,” said Lee.
“There is no specific plan for tomorrow’s match, just to do my best,” added Lee.
In the men’s doubles competition, Malaysian World No. 3 men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, continued their journey at the 2024 Paris Olympics by booking a ticket to the semifinals.
Chia/Soh defeated India’s World No. 5 pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, 13-21, 21-14, 21-16 in a thrilling 59-minute match filled with loud cheers from supporters at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
After creating a sensation in France by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the Olympic semifinals, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan now have the opportunity to make even bigger history by advancing to the final.
Chia/Soh will set up a rematch of the last Group A match against World No. 1 Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang of China in the semifinals, while World No. 2 Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark will also set up a Group D rematch with World No. 12 Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin of Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan were motivated by their quarterfinal victory over the last edition’s bronze medalists, Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong of Korea. Tan/Muralitharan beat Kim/Kong 21-12, 21-13 and will get a chance to avenge their loss to World No. 1 Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, as the two pairs will face off in the semifinals.
Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan easily overcame the Bulgarian pair, Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva, 21-15, 21-8 in another quarterfinal match.
In the four matches Tan/Muralitharan have played in Paris, including the quarterfinal, their only loss was to Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan 17-21, 20-22 in their first Group A match.
Facing the world’s top-ranked Chinese pair again is no easy task for Tan/Muralitharan.
“Last night, I had trouble sleeping, thinking about today because we knew it was an important match,” said Muralitharan.
“Being in the semifinals, I think my feelings are hard to describe in words,” added Muralitharan.
Tan explained that the understanding between her and Muralitharan on the court is a key factor in their success in reaching the semifinals.
“Everyone wants to win. We thought a lot about it, we were nervous because we wanted to win, and they wanted to win too. It wasn’t easy,” said Tan.
“But luckily, on the court, when we played, we weren’t nervous; we had each other,” added Tan.
“This is the most important thing for us because we are both on the court. So, I am very happy today that we overcame the nerves and won the match,” explained Tan.
