BADMINTON ASIA CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024: LEE ZII JIA, JONATAN CHRISTIE, ANTHONY GINTING INTO LAST 16 BUT LOH KEAN YEW MISSES OUT

Lee Zii Jia's campaign to regain his Asian badminton title got off to the perfect start on Wednesday (10 April) with a win at the 2024 Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, People's Republic of China.

The Malaysian, the 2022 continental champion, saw off India's Priyanshu Rajawat 21-9, 21-13 in a straight-games win in 39 minutes.

Lee took a few points to find his feet in the opening game, but won 18 of the last 22 points contested, never letting Priyanshu have a look in. While the second game was a little closer, Lee's dominance was never threatened.

He next faces Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien-chen, who beat the hosts' Weng Hongyang after the latter withdrew at the end of the first game with an injury.

Indonesia's second and third seeds Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie each also booked their second-round spots with straight-games victories.

Ginting saw off India's former world number one Kidambi Srikanth 21-14, 21-13, while Christie needed barely half an hour to beat Filipino qualifier Jewel Albo 21-12, 21-12.