KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — National men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia moved up two places in the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) rankings to be placed eighth in the latest world ranking updated at  midnight yesterday.

After amassing 12,000 points as the All England champion, the 22-year-old now has accumulated 69,389 points from 25 tournaments played for his career’s best ranking, after having entered the top 10 in March last year, according to the BWF’s official site, https://bwfbadminton.com.

The victory at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Sunday (March 21) helped the Kedahan to overtake Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong (69,270 points) and Wang Tzu-wei of Taiwan (63,393).

Zii Jia won the All England championship after defeating defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 30-29, 20-22, 21-9.

Japanese star Kento Momota remains at the top with 109,118 points from 15 tournaments, including 6,600 points from the prestigious All England, where he was eliminated 16-21, 19-21 by Zii Jia in the quarterfinals.

Danish stars Axelsen (98,486) and Anders Antonsen (94,875) also remain in the top three.

Swiss Open women’s doubles champions Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah also climbed three places, after earning 6,600 points by reaching the All England quarterfinals, to be ranked 19th in the world with 47,015 points.

In the women’s singles category, Soniia Cheah (38,931)  dropped a rung to be placed 33rd , while S. Kisona (25,184) climbed up two places to be ranked 60th.

Mixed doubles players Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing also moved up a spot to be ranked 11th in the world with 62,770 points. — Bernama