KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — National men’s singles shuttler, Lee Zii Jia ended Malaysia’s fourteen-year drought after winning the Taiwan Open Badminton Tournament in Taipei Arena, today.

Malaysia last won the men’s singles through national badminton ace, Datuk Lee Chong Wei in 2004.

In today’s match, Zii Jia was forced to play in rubber-set before edging young Japanese shuttler, Riichi Takeshita; winning in 21-17, 16-21 and 21-11 in the 61-minute match, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website;www.bwfworldtour.bwfbadminton.com.

Zii Jia put up a sizzling display en route to the final by knocking out several top players including two Taiwanese players — fourth seeded Hsu Jen Hao and the top seed who is also world number four, Chou Tien Chen in the semi-finals match, yesterday.

It was Zii Jia’s second international title, having won the 2017 Polish International Open Badminton Tournament. — Bernama