KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's professional men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia is expected to clear the first round of the All England Championships in Birmingham, where he is drawn to play Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long.
According to the draw released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the seventh seeded Zii Jia will meet the world number 20 Ka Long, who has won only four times in 10 meetings with the Malaysian.
Zii Jia has triumphed in their last five meetings stretching back to the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, held in October 2023.
In contrast, debutant Leong Jun Hao faces a tough challenge in the opening round, having been drawn against Indonesia’s third seed, Jonatan Christie.
Nonetheless, the world number 26 has a chance to pull off an upset, given that he won their most recent meeting.
Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have also received a favourable draw as they will play Taiwan’s Teng Chun Hsun-Yang Chu Yun in the opening round.
Should Pearly-Thinaah advance to the second round, they will meet either Taiwan’s Hsu Yin-Hui-Jhih Yun Li or Indonesia’s Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, a relatively manageable challenge for them.
Two other Malaysian pairs in the spotlight, men’s doubles duo Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, face tricky first-round encounters.
Fifth-seeded Aaron-Wooi Yik must be wary of England’s world number 15 duo Ben Lane-Sean Vendy, while Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin have been drawn against South Korea’s Kim Gi Jung-Kim Sa Rang.
In the mixed doubles, top-seeded Malaysians Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai will take on Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supisara Paewsampran, while Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei are set to meet Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja.
The All England will be held at Utilita Arena Birmingham from March 11 to 16.
-- BERNAMA
