KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 — National men’s singles professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia fought back from a game down to beat China’s Sun Fie Xiang 19-21, 21-14, 21-14 in the first round of the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) 2022 in Manila, the Philippines today.

Zii Jia had to toil for 59 minutes at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex to set up a second-round date against Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito, who ousted Taiwan’s Lin Chun Yi 14-21, 22-20, 21-19 in the opening round.

Another national men’s singles professional shuttler, Liew Daren, also had to slog for three games to beat South Korea’s Heo Kwang Hee  8-21, 21-10, 21-15 to earn a ticket to the second round.

In the next round, Daren will face Indonesian fourth seed Jonatan Christie, who ousted India’s B Sai Praneeth 21-17, 21-13.

There was no such luck for the other two national men’s singles shuttler Aidil Sholeh and Ng Tze Yong, who both crashed out in the first round. Aidil went down fighting 14-21, 21-9, 18-21 to Taiwan’s Wang Tzu Wei while Tze Yong lost 20-22, 15-21 to S Kidambi of India.

In women’s doubles, national shuttlers Anna Ching Yik Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing and Pearly Tan-M Thinaah checked into the second round by blitzing their India opponents in style.

Anna-Mei Xing took 33 minutes to down K Ashwini Bhat-Shikha Gautam 21-19, 21-12 while Pearly-Thinaah ousted Simran Singhi-Ritika Thaker 21-15, 21-11.

National women’s singles ace S. Kisona also marched into the second round after defeating Yeung Sum Yee of Hong Kong 21-10, 22-20. — Bernama