Zii Jia upsets China's Olympic champion Chen Long to reach All-England semis
BADMINTON
Friday, 13 Mar 20207:38 PM MYT
By Rajes Paul
KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia continues his sizzling form in the All-England when he dumped Chen Long of China to reach the men's singles semi-finals.
The 21-year-old took 49 minutes to beat the 2016 Rio Olympic Games champion and world No. 5 Chen Long 21-12,21-18 in the quarter-finals at Arena Birmingham on Friday (March 13).
A day ago, Chen Long had knocked out his team-mate and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan 21-17,21-8 in the second round.
It was Zii Jia's second win against Chen Long.
He had beaten the former world champion at the Indonesian Open last year, but that match went down the wire before Zii Jia won 21-16,19-21,22-20.
The Malaysian had lost in the last two matches against the Chinese star at the Opens in China and Denmark in hard-fought three games but today, Zii Jia was impressive as he trooped out as the deserving winner.
The All-England debutant will meet Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who defeated former All-England champion Shi Yuqi of China 21-15, 21-7 in another quarter-final match.
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