Kuala Lumpur: The World No. 2 Lee Zii Jia’s hope of winning the 2023 Malaysia Open was prematurely ended by World No. 7 Kodai Naraoka of Japan, who played an impressive comeback game to pull off the upset by beating Lee 13-21, 21-17, 21-19.
Highlights of Lee Zii Jia vs. Kodai Naraoka in the 2023 Malaysia Open first round:
(source: Astro Arena)
This was the third time Lee has been knocked out early at home after experiencing the same ‘nightmare’ in 2019 and 2022. He lost to Thai player Suppanyu Avihingsanon in the first round in 2019 before losing to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito from Indonesia in the second round last year.
Naraoka’s keys to victory were his success in unleashing a lot of body smashes towards Lee, daring to play net shots even when Lee was waiting at the net getting ready to pound on the shuttlecock, and making Lee very uncomfortable by playing mostly flat shots or pushing the shuttlecock to Lee’s baseline quickly.
“It’s disappointing but I’ve tried everything I could today. What more can I say, I think it’s a bad start to 2023,” said Lee.
“It is very challenging to control the wind conditions inside the arena not only for me but for other players as well. Of course, Kodai has the advantage in this match because he is more patient and more defensive,” added Lee.
Naraoka will play another Malaysian player, the World No. 25 Ng Tze Yong in the second round. Ng progressed after beating the Irish player, Nhat Nguyen 21-4, 21-10.
In men’s doubles, the reigning World Champions Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik admitted that they were relieved after successfully passing the first round of the 2023 Malaysian Open.
After dropping the first game, Chia/Soh came back to win the next two by beating World No. 38 Lee Jhe Huei/Yang Po Hsuan of Taiwan 16-21, 21-15, and 21-16.
“It’s a new year, everything starts from scratch. There might be a little pressure playing in front of home fans,” said Chia.
“The difficult first-round match helped prepare us to face more difficult matches after this. Of course, we will play one game at a time but when we start with a win it will make us more ready for the next game,” added Chia.
The World No. 3 Chia/Soh will battle World No. 6 Liu Yu Chen/Ou Xuan Yi of China in the second round.
