KUALA LUMPUR: Today is Day 2 of the Paris Olympics, and for many Malaysian sports fans, their main attention will be on shuttler Lee Zii Jia.
Zii Jia, the fan favourite, has made no secret of his intention to win the men's singles gold in the French capital.
His first opponent in Group G is the unheralded Sri Lankan Viren Nettasinghe. That should be a breeze for the former All England champion.
In the men's doubles, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are eyeing their second win in Group A. They should brush aside Canadians Adam Dong-Nyl Yakura and book a quarter-final ticket. Yesterday, they defeated Great Britain's Sean Vendy-Ben Lane 19-21, 21-16, 21-11.
Mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei will also aim to take a step closer to the quarter-finals when they play Americans Vinson Chiu-Jennie Gai today. Yesterday, the world No. 9 Malaysian duo, who were making their Olympic debut, defeated Singapore's Terry Hee-Jessica Tan 23-21, 21-12 in their Group D opener.
In the women's doubles, world No. 13 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah will try to upstage Japan's world No. 6 Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara today. After giving China's World No.1 pair Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan a run for their money in a Group A opener yesterday, the Malaysians look capable of pulling off a surprise against the Japanese duo.
The other Malaysians in action today will be women's archers Ariana Nur Dania Zairi, Nurul Azreena Fazil and Syaqiera Mashayikh who take on Indonesia in the 1/8 elimination round.
Medals have been awarded in rugby sevens, fencing and swimming earlier today, with more to come in shooting, mountain biking, archery, judo, skateboarding and canoe slalom.
TODAY
Malaysians in action
Archery
Women's team - 1/8 elimination round
4:16pm: Ariana Nur Dania Zairi, Nurul Azreena Fazil, Syaqiera Mashayikh v Diananda Choirunisa, Syifa Nurafifah Kamal, Rezza Octavia (Ina)
Badminton
Women's doubles
2:30pm: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah v Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (Jpn)
Men's doubles
Not before 3:20pm: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik v Adam Dong-Nyl Yakura (Can)
Men's singles
Not before 4:10pm: Lee Zii Jia v Viren Nettasinghe (Sri)
Mixed doubles
Not before 5:00pm: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei v Vinson Chiu-Jennie Gai (USA)
Medals on offer today
Archery
10:48pm: Women's team bronze medal match
11:11pm: Women's team gold medal match
Canoe slalom
11:45pm: Women's kayak single final
Judo
10:00pm onwards: Men's -66kg and women's -52kg final
Mountain bike
8:10pm: Women's cross country
Shooting
3:30pm: 10m air pistol men's final
6:00pm: 10m air pistol women's final
Skateboarding
11:00pm: Women's street final
*Malaysian time