All England: Lee Breaches the Fort
Kento Momota’s comeback to international badminton after a long layoff stalled in the quarterfinals of the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2021 as the 2019 champion fell to an inspired Lee Zii Jia.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The Malaysian, who had never breached Momota’s fort in six previous matches, finally stitched together the right moves to dismantle the two-time world champion, 21-16 21-19.
Lee’s opponent in the last four will be Mark Caljouw, who made his first HSBC World Tour Super 1000 semifinal, beating Lakshya Sen in three games.
Momota did show the rust of his layoff, but Lee Zii Jia never allowed him to get into the game. He kept his attacking momentum throughout, troubling Momota with both consistency and precision, and his willingness to last the course in the rallies. The Japanese had his moments, particularly in the second game when he was able to keep pegging away with his rallying skills, but the Malaysian never let that bog him down. Lee’s attacks were precise and judicious; the openings quickly put away.