TOKYO: Lee Zii Jia’s bid to become Malaysia’s first badminton world champion ground to a halt on Thursday with a third-round loss to China’s unseeded surprise-package Zhao Junpeng.

Number five seed Lee was one of the main contenders for the title this week in Tokyo but he fell into an early hole that he could not dig himself out of, going down 21-19, 11-21, 21-19.

Three of the top five men’s seeds in Tokyo have now crashed out before the quarter-finals as Lee joined number two seed Kento Momota and number three Anders Antonsen in making an early exit.

Danish number one seed Viktor Axelsen made it through to the quarter-finals with a 21-19, 21-16 win over Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin, but India’s Lakshya Sen and China’s Shi Yuqi both fell by the wayside.

Rising star Sen came into the tournament fresh from winning gold at the Commonwealth Games but he could not find a way past Indian compatriot HS Prannoy in a 17-21, 21-16, 21-17 loss.

Prannoy, who stunned Momota in the second round, now faces the world number 23 Zhao in the quarter-finals.

Shi was returning from a 10-month ban from the Chinese Badminton Association for making “inappropriate comments” following a 2021 match where he withdrew on match point.

Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting nipped his comeback in the bud with a 21-11, 13-21, 21-18 win and the number six seed’s reward was a quarter-final match-up against Axelsen.

Defending champion Loh Kean Yew also reached the quarter-finals after opponent Angus Ng of Hong Kong withdrew during the second game.

On the women’s side, defending champion and number one seed Akane Yamaguchi made short work of Japanese compatriot Sayaka Takahashi in a 21-18, 21-7 win.

Yamaguchi will next face former world number one Carolina Marin after the Spaniard fended off four match points to beat China’s He Bingjiao 16-21, 21-15, 22-20.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2022