KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — Top seed Lee Zii Jia crashed out of the Orléans Masters quarter-finals when he was beaten by unseeded Irish player Nhat Nguyen early this morning Malaysian time.
He needed only 39 minutes to beat the Malaysian professional 23-21, 21-7 in the match at the Palais des Sports.
Nguyen, who lost all three of his previous matches against Lee, will meet home player Alex Lanier in the semi-finals.
This was Lee's first tournament of the season after recovering from an ankle injury sustained during the Badminton World Federation World Tour finals in December last year.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s men’s doubles pair Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King continued their fine run with a 21-19, 21-18 victory over Taiwan’s Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Poh Hsuan.
They will play top seeds Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China in the semi-finals.
— Bernama
[caption id="attachment_392673" align="aligncenter" width="1133"] (from left to right) National badminton and men's doubles athletes Wan Arif Junaidi and Yap Roy King following their match against Taiwan’s Lee Jhe Huei and Yang Poh Hsuan at the Orleans Masters at the Palais des Sports in Orleans, France, on March 8, 2025. — Picture via FACEBOOK/BADMINTON ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA - BAM[/caption]