-Olympics
Malaysia’s badminton ace Lee Zii Jia bounced back from his Denmark Open final loss by defeating Weng Hong Yang in round one at the BWF French Open 2023 on Wednesday (25 October).
The opening game went back and forth in the beginning, until Lee managed to take control with his characteristic powerful smashes. The star shuttler wrapped up the first game 21-15.
It was more of the same in the second as Lee continued to dictate play, taking the game 21-11.
Reigning All England champion Li Shifeng awaits Lee in the round of 16.
Earlier in the day, Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen pulled out of the French Open, citing an injury he suffered at last week’s Denmark Open.
The Dane was clearly hampered by the injury and struggled to move on the court in his first round encounter against Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong China.
After losing the first game 17-21, Axelsen chose to retire from the match.
In the round of 16, the shuttler from Hong Kong China can look forward to a meeting with Loh Kean Yew.
World No.2 Anthony Ginting beat Magnus Johannesen of Denmark 21-14, 16-21, 21-8 to advance to the next round. The Indonesian is set to face Toma Junior Popov of France.
Elsewhere, in women’s singles, 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin ousted Gao Fang Jie of the People’s Republic of China 21-7, 21-13. Next, the Spaniard will face Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia.
2020 Olympic champion Chen Yufei, who claimed last week’s Denmark Open, advanced defeating Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen 21-19, 21-5 to set up an encounter with either Wang Zhi Yi of China or Japan’s Kawakami Saena.
Featured Image: Malaysiakini