Published on: Monday, July 26, 2021
By: Bernama
Zii Jia hits a shot to Artem Pochtarov.
TOKYO: National men’s singles ace Lee Zii Jia got his maiden Olympic outing off to a cracking start with an emphatic 21-5, 21-11 win over Ukraine’s Artem Pochtarov in his opening Group M tie at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza here on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Zii Jia, who is ranked eighth in the world, was in sizzling form as he turned on the style with his deft flicks and deadly smashes to brush aside his opponent in just 25 minutes.
Zii Jia was clearly a class above in the first game, trouncing the world number 98 Ukrainian 21-5 in just nine minutes before wrapping up the second game with a 21-11 win.
Tokyo Olympics: Zii Jia off to a cracking start thesundaily.my - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesundaily.my Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
TOKYO – National women’s doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean got their Tokyo Olympics campaign off to a rocky start after losing their opening Group A match against Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia today.
The Indonesian pair defeated Mei Kuan-Meng Yean 21-14, 21-17 in 45 minutes at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza here.
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Both pairs fought neck-and-neck at the start of the first game before Greysia-Apriyani took a slim 11-10 lead at the interval.
Mei Kuan-Meng Yean failed to replicate that form as they quickly lost the momentum after the match resumed and the Indonesian pair took the first game 21-14.
Indonesian women s doubles pair Polii-Rahayu win Olympic opening match antaranews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from antaranews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
OLYMPIC WD Preview – Can Japan get their fairy-tale final?
How are Japan’s chances in the home team’s strongest discipline going into the Tokyo Olympics? Can Hirota and Fukushima rise to the biggest occasion of their career?
By Don Hearn. Photos: Badmintonphoto
Entering the Olympic women’s doubles competition with the first and third seeds belies Japan’s dominance in this discipline over the past few years. With over two dozen Superseries or equivalent titles, two World Championships, and Asian Games silver all since Matsutomo and Takahashi won gold in Rio, the Japanese podium success is close to rivalling China’s at the height of its women’s doubles power. In early 2019, Japan accounted for half the pairs in the world’s top ten.