KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 – Former All England champion Lee Zii Jia advanced to the 2024 Malaysia Masters semi-finals after three years, by eliminating Anders Antonsen of Denmark, on Friday.
Fresh from winning the Thailand Open title last week, the world number 10 Zii Jia, powered by strong home support, notched a 21-15, 19-21, 21-11 win after an 84-minute battle against the 2024 Malaysia Open champion at the Axiata Arena here.
It was only his third win against the world number four Antonsen in eight encounters between them, with the first victory being in the 2020 Malaysia Masters.
Zii Jia, who is gunning for first title on home soil, will face Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long, who stunned third seed Li Shi Feng of China 21-13, 21-15.
The 26-year-old Zii Jia’s best ever achievement in the Malaysia Masters was the semi-finals in 2020 when he went down to eventual champion Kento Momota, while he advanced to the quarter-finals in 2019.
However, his campaign ended early in other editions as he was eliminated in the first round in 2017 and second round in 2018 and 2023, while he didn’t take part in 2022, and tournament was called off in 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
