PARIS, Aug 4 — The Malaysian badminton camp’s hopes for their first gold medal at the Paris Olympics have gone up in smoke.
Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia went down 14-21, 15-21 to reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the semi finals at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena today.
The 26-year-old Zii Jia and Kunlavut, 23, fought closely in the beginning, before the Thai shuttler took off with his “sting smashes”.
Kunlavut continued the domination in the second game, while Zii Jia’s attempt for chase did not materialise after a 50-minute battle.
Zii Jia advanced to the semi finals after beating world No.3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark 21-17, 21-15 on Friday, while Kunlavut stunned China’s world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi with a 21-12, 21-10 straight-sets win.
During his debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games, Zii Jia lost to China champion Chen Long in the last 16 stage.
No Malaysian shuttlers have managed to get past the Olympic semi finals since winning three silvers at Rio 2016.
In Paris 2024, Malaysia had three representatives in the semi finals, but none advanced to finals.
Men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik lost to top seeds Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China, while women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan M. Thinaah went down to Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan, another of China’s top pairs.
— Bernama
