Lee Zii Jia on Friday shocked two-time world champion Kento Momota to reach the semi-finals of the All England Open.
The Malaysian beat the world No. 1 21-16, 21-19 to end his Japanese opponent’s tournament after a much-anticipated return to international action this week.
The pair went blow-for-blow up until the interval, taken at 11-8.
Photo: AFP
Lee surged on from there, matching Momota’s razor-sharp movement to win seven straight points and take the first game.
The 22-year-old drove home his advantage, stretching out to an 11-6 lead at the break in a white-knuckle second game in the empty arena in Birmingham.
Lee saw a net cord go his way to make it 20-19 and he went on to seal the match against the 2019 champion.
Photo: AP
“I’ve never beaten him before, so this is a very special moment for me,” said the Malaysian, who has long been a keen follower of the Japanese player. “I did a lot of studying about Momota. Every time I played him, it seems like there’s a big gap between us. I always discuss about what strategy I have to play against him, we worked a lot on that. Today is a big win for us.”
The draw has opened up for Lee, who faced Mark Clajouw of the Netherlands in the semi-finals, with those matches finishing after press time last night.
Momota, 26, who made a successful return to domestic badminton by winning the All-Japan Championship in December last year, was playing his first BWF world tour event since a car crash in Malaysia in January last year, in which he sustained a fractured eye socket and his driver was killed.
Photo: AP
He missed out on his planned comeback to the international tour in January after testing positive for COVID-19, which led to the Japan squad pulling out of three events in Thailand.
Denmark’s second seed Viktor Axelsen beat Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand 21-4, 21-15 to progress to the last four.
In the women’s event, Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara beat Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan 18-21, 21-8, 21-16.
With the All England Open not counting toward Olympic qualification, leading Asian badminton nations Taiwan, China and South Korea opted not to travel because of COVID-19 restrictions.
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