KUALA LUMPUR: World No 7 Lee Zii Jia is now an Asian champion.
On Sunday, the 24-year-old men's singles shuttler kept a cool head to see off 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 21-17, 23-21 in the final of the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) in Manila.
The win, only Zii Jia's second over the Indonesian, could not have come at a better time for the independent shuttler, who is seen as the poster boy of the Malaysian team competing in next week's Thomas Cup in Bangkok.
Zii Jia becomes only the sixth Malaysian to win the BAC men's singles crown, last won by former world No 1 Lee Chong Wei in 2016.
Meanwhile, in the men's doubles final, national No 1 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik failed to make it a double for Malaysia following their shocking 23-21, 21-10 upset in the hands of Indonesia's world No 22 Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan.
RESULTS
(All Finals)
Men's singles: Lee Zii Jia (Mas) bt Jonatan Christie (Ina) 21-17, 23-21;
Doubles: Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan (Ina) bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) 23-21, 21-10;
Women's singles: Wang Zhi Yi (Chn) bt Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 15-21, 21-13, 21-19;
Doubles: Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan (Chn) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-11, 21-15;
Mixed doubles: Zheng Siwei-Huang Ya Qiong (Chn) bt Wang Yi Lyu-Huang Dong Ping (Chn) 21-17, 21-8.