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.
Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday pulled off a major upset in the DFB-Pokal by defeating defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 in their semi-final. The third-division team came from behind after Jonathan Tah gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead. Marius Worl replied three minutes later and Maximilian Groser scored Bielefeld’s second goal just before the break. The home team looked more likely to add to that tally as the Leverkusen players looked jaded. “I’m just proud of this team,” Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat said as most of the fans the small stadium sang around him. “No one will sleep in the city tonight.” Patrik Schick went
THREES KINGS: The Celtics claimed a piece of league history by setting a new record for the number of threes in a season, ending their game with 1,370 Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun on Friday combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City’s 11-game winning streak with a statement 125-111 victory. In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the post-season. Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting, while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27. Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have shown the team do not need star power to win trophies and with the French Ligue 1 title won with six games to spare, the French champions would look to finish the season without losing, manager Luis Enrique said on Saturday. A 1-0 victory over Angers SCO at the Parc des Princes helped PSG win their fourth straight Ligue 1 title and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG can still break Nantes’ 30-year-old record of 32 games unbeaten. Although Nantes lost one game en route to the title, no French club has ever gone an entire league
RECORD WINNERS: The Catalan club, who are still in contention for a historic quadruple this season, are to face rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final Barcelona are to face rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final after Ferran Torres secured them a 1-0 win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, progressing 5-4 on aggregate from the semi-final tie. Record 31-time winners Barca had the better of the clash at the Metropolitano after the wild 4-4 first-leg draw. The defeat leaves Diego Simeone’s Atletico with little to play for in the rest of the season. By contrast, the Catalans are on the hunt for a potential quadruple and are unbeaten this year, stretching their run to 21 games without defeat. Atletico were the last team to triumph
RSS