Lee Zii Jia slid into the quarterfinals of the All England when he showed a certain level of consistency to overcome Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus 21-12, 21-13 in the second round of the sport’s oldest competition.
With the win, Zii Jia will face the tournament’s top seed Kento Momota, who made short work of India’s H S Prannoy 21-10, 21-10.
In the women’s doubles, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah stayed the course to confirm their slot in the quarterfinals after they beat the hometown pair of Jessica Hopton-Jenny Moore 21-18, 21-7.
“In the first set, we made some mistakes because we could not get a hold of their pattern. But in the second set, we got the rhythm and managed to control the game well.
“Pearly and I are in momentum at the moment. But we still need to balance the need to be patient and aggressive for tomorrow’s (today’s) match. One thing for sure, is that we will give our all for every match that we play,” said Thinaah.
Added Pearly: “We did not feel a lot of pressure as this was our first appearance in the All-England. All we wanted was to gain experience and get better from one game to the next.”
The Swiss Open champions will next take on the fifth-seeded pair from Japan, Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida who defeated Estonia’s Kati-Kreet Marran-Helina Rüütel 21-8, 21-12.
In the meantime, two other national representatives in the mixed doubles action, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying also advanced to the quarterfinals.
The sixth-seeded Kian Meng-Pei Jing beat Steven Stallwood-Annie Lado from England 21-15, 21-15 and where they will take on Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino next.
Peng Soon-Lui Ying who is seeded third, overcame Thai pair Nipitphon Phuangphuapet-Benyapa Aimsaard 21-9, 21-8 will face French duo, Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue, who beat Malaysia’s Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei.
Stranded in the second round were Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie as well as two national professional doubles, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yii and Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong.
