Badminton: Lee Zii Jia through to semis, defending champ Axelsen knocks out good friend Loh
At Porte de la Chapelle Arena, we’ve been treated to four fascinating men’s singles quarter-finals in badminton.
There will be an all-Southeast Asian semi-final after reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand and Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia both won tough tests.
Vitidsarn knocked out the world number onf Shi Yuqi 21-12, 21-10, while Lee beat Denmark’s Anders Antonsen 21-17, 21-15.
The other semi-final sees the unseeded Lakshya Sen, the last unseeded player in the draw, take on reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen.
Sen became India’s first men’s singles badminton semi-finalist, following in the footsteps of P.V. Sindhu on the women’s side, when he beat Chou Tien-chen 19-21, 21-15, 21-12.
Meanwhile Axelsen beat Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in straight games, 21-9, 21-17.
