Bangkok: Lee Zii Jia’s passage into the semi-finals of the 2022 Thailand Open was filled with pulsating actions against Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia on Friday.
After trailing 4-11 in the decider, Lee managed to regain his focus just in time in the third set as he played a resilient game to complete a stunning 21-10, 14-21, 21-16 comeback victory against the World No. 24 Rhustavito to book his place in the final four.
Highlights of the 2022 Thailand Open men’s singles quarter-final match between Lee Zii Jia and Shesar Hiren Rhustavito:
The World No. 6 Lee will set up an all-Malaysian battle with World No. 34 who is also his sparring partner – Daren Liew on Saturday.
Liew, on the other hand, roared back from dropping the second set down to edge World No. 36 Zhao Jun Peng of China 21-10, 19-21, 21-19 in 59 minutes.
Prior to Saturday’s semi-final clash, Lee held a 1-0 career head-to-head meeting over Liew where he defeated the World No. 34 in the quarter-final of the 2021 Denmark Open.
In women’s singles, No. 1 seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei produced a brilliant display to down No. 8 seed He Bingjiao of China 21-10, 14-21, 21-18.
Tai is set to take on No. 7 seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand for the final berth.
Meanwhile, India’s No. 6 seed PV Sindhu was forced to work hard before seeing off No. 2 seed Akane Yamaguchi 21-15, 20-22, 21-13 in another women’s singles quarter-final match.
Sindhu will meet No. 3 seed Chen Yufei of China on Saturday.
