KUALA LUMPUR: His fans feared his form might "freeze" again at the Arctic Open first round, but Lee Zii Jia coolly breezed past France's Christo Popov today (Oct 9).
The Malaysian world No. 4, who fell in the first round in his most recent tournaments — the China and Japan Opens, outplayed the 27th-ranked Frenchman 21-15, 21-11 in 43 minutes at the Vantaan Energy Arena, in Vantaa, Finland.
Zii Jia, who is the Arctic Open defending champion, aims to win his third title of the year in Vantaa after triumphs at the Thailand and Australia Opens.
The Paris Olympic bronze medallist will play Japan's world No. 30 Yushi Tanaka in the next round. Yushi outlasted China's world No. 22 Lei Lan Xi 21-17, 27-29, 21-16 in the opening round.
However, Leong Jun Hao was sent packing by Hong Kong's world No. 16 Lee Cheuk Yiu. The 29th ranked Malaysian succumbed in straight sets, 21-19, 21-9 in 44 minutes.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai continued their impressive run on the World Tour by advancing to the second round.
The world No. 10 Malaysians secured a 21-14, 21-16 victory over the Czech Republic's Ondrej Kral-Tereza Svabikova in just 34 minutes.
Soon Huat-Shevon arrived at the Arctic Open fresh from their runners-up finish at the China Open in what has been a stellar season for them. They also won the Swiss Open and Malaysia Masters this year.
In the next round, Soon Huat-Shevon will take on Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran.
"We are getting used to the playing environment and hoping to do better in the next round.
"Our primary focus is on maintaining our consistency in each match because the court conditions in every tournament are different. The same goes for our physical condition.
"So we'll take things one game at a time," Shevon told Timesport.
National mixed pair Yap Roy King- Valeree Siow were forced to retire from their match against England's Ethan van Leeuwen-Chloe Birch after Valeree sustained a leg injury when trailing 16-12.
Earlier, Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin advanced to the second round with a convincing 21-16, 21-10 win over China's world No. 25 Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui.
Men's pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun prevailed after an hour-long battle to reach the second round.
The world No. 13 Malaysians faced Indonesia's 57th ranked Leo Rolly Carnado-Bagas Maulana, and had to pull out all the stops to emerge victorious.
After losing the first game, Wei Chong-Kai Wun rallied to register a 17-21, 21-18, 21-12 victory.
They will next play the winners of the match between Scotland's Alexander Dunn-Adam Pringle and Germany's Daniel Hess-Marvin Seidel.
It was a different story for compatriots Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, who were sent home early by Taiwan's Lin Bing Wei-Su Ching Heng. Arif-Roy King lost 21-19, 21-17 in 41 minutes.