KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Malaysia’s professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia stunned second seed Christo Popov 21-11, 21-16 to storm into the Arctic Open semi-finals in Vantaa today.
Zii Jia took 38 minutes to brush aside the world No.2 Frenchman in the quarter-finals of the Super 500 tournament at Energia Areena.
The win extended world No.56 Zii Jia’s unbeaten record against Popov to three matches since they first met in the 2022 German Open.
The 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist will next face either China’s Hu Zhe An or Denmark’s fourth-seeded Anders Antonsen.
The Arctic Open offers a total prize money of US$500,000 (about RM2.04 million), with the final on Sunday.
