Zii Jia takes revenge on Weng, advances to second round of French Open

KUALA LUMPUR - National men’s singles Lee Zii Jia succeeded in taking revenge on his Chinese opponent Weng Hong Yang who denied him from winning back-to-back titles, at the 2023 French Open in Rennes early this morning.

In first-round action at Glaz Arena, Zii Jia, who lost to Weng in the Denmark Open final last week, stormed to a 21-15, 21-11 victory in 45 minutes to advance to the next stage.

The world number 11, who won the Arctic Open in Finland earlier this month, will square off against another shuttler from China, Li Shi Feng who is seeded eighth in the tournament, in the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals.

Another national men’s singles Ng Tze Yong also fulfilled the prediction of passing the first hurdle after defeating Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands 21-9, 21-9 and is scheduled to meet Frenchman Arnaud Merkle in the second round.

In the meantime, two national mixed doubles pairs Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie also advanced to the second round after defeating their opponents.

In the second round, Tang Jie-Ee Wei will face the pair of Reginald Lee-Ng Tsz Yau from Hong Kong while Soon Huat-Shevon will also meet another Hong Kong pairing of Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet.

Meanwhile, luck was not on the side of the national men’s doubles pair of Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun when they lost to Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard from Denmark 21-18, 18-21, 15-21 in the first round. - BERNAMA