Arctic Open: Malaysia Secure Men’s Singles Title, Unique Feat
Malaysia had been waiting almost a full 10 months for a first titlist above the Super 300 level on the HSBC BWF World Tour this season. Now they have one before a shuttle is even hit in the final.
· PREM KUMAR
Ng Tze Yong and Lee Zii Jia both made the Super 500 CLASH OF CLANS Arctic Open 2023 powered by YONEX men’s singles final in contrasting circumstances, with Ng first defeating Kanta Tsuneyama in straight games (21-12 21-16) for the third time to keep his unbeaten run against the Japanese going. Lee took to court two hours later, looking steady under pressure to get through the opening game against good mate Anders Antonsen 21-17. A left hamstring strain then unfortunately forced the Dane to retire while Lee was leading 13-8.
That the match ended abruptly would matter little to Malaysian fans for they have never seen a final involving two of their own in SuperSeries tournaments in any of the five categories.
Lee understood the enormity of the achievement.