KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — Top seed Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Tee Jing Yi were dominant in the men’s and women’s categories on the first day of the National Badminton Grand Prix Final 2015 at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara, here today.

Iskandar representing the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) topped Group A with two wins in the round robin group stages, beating Negeri Sembilan’s Chen Tng Jie 21-13, 21-12 and team mate R. Satheishtharan 21-17, 21-18.

“I cannot declare myself as the favourite since there are a number of good players in the field but maybe ranked lower than me. I hope to emerge victorious in the GP here,” he told Bernama when met today.

Iskandar, 24, currently ranked number 32 in the world, has won three titles this year, namely the Singapore International Series in August, Poland International Series in September and Swiss International Badminton Challenge in October.

Another national player in the men’s singles, Goh Soon Huat also managed two victories in Group B after overcoming Lee Zii Jia from Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil (SSBJ) 21-10, 21-14 and Wong Chet Vin from BAM, 21-6, 21-10.

Meanwhile, the country’s number women’s singles player and top seed Jing Yi who has been drawn in Group A with 2015 World Junior runner-up Lee Ying Ying, Ng Qi Yuan and Lim Chiew Sien would have no problems marching into the semifinals.

In today’s first match, Jing Yi faced strong resistance from Ying Ying before emerging with a 21-17, 21-23, 21-15 victory before beating Lim Chiew Sien 21-9, 21-16 in her second match.

World Junior champion Goh Jin Wei who was drawn in Group B took just 29 minutes to beat her team mate Lee Zii Yii 21-11, 21-15 and followed up that victory with a 21-18, 24-22 win over Yang Li Lian.

In the doubles competition, the absence of National number one men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong, women’s doubles pair Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei and Amelia Alicia Anscelly/Soong Fie Cho and mixed doubles Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying in the Grand Prix will give participating pairs an open chance.

All four pairs are currently playing in the Mexico City Badminton Grand Prix. — Bernama