KUALA LUMPUR: Star shuttler Lee Zii Jia gave fans what they wanted but it was a case of so near and yet so far for a number of other Malaysian athletes at the Paris Olympics today.
Zii Jia lived up to expectations as he booked his spot in the men's singles round-of-16 with a decisive 21-10, 21-13 win over Spain's Pablo Abian at Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
The win sees Zii Jia, who had defeated Viren Nettasinghe (Sri Lanka) on Sunday, topping Group G. He will next play either Anthony Ginting (Indonesia) or Toma Junior Popov (France) for a spot in the final eight tomorrow.
Luck, however, was not on the side of Goh Jin Wei who squandered two match points before going down 17-21, 22-20, 23-21 to Kim Ga Eun of South Korea in the women's singles event.
Jin Wei thus finished second to Ga Eun in Group H subsequently missed the cut for the last-16.
In archery, Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi pushed 2022 Birmingham World Games gold medallist Chiara Rebagliati (Ita) to a shoot-off before going down 6-5 in their women's individual event round of 1/32 match at Esplanade des Invalides.
It was nevertheless an impressive performance from Ariana, 19, who was making her Olympic debut.
Results:
Archery
Women's individual, 1/32 round: Chiara Rebagliati (Ita) def Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi 6-5
Badminton
Men's singles, Group G: Lee Zii Jia def Pablo Abian (Esp) 21-10, 21-13
Women's singles, Group H: Kim Ga Eun (Kor) def Goh Jin Wei 17-21, 22-20, 23-21
Malaysians in action tomorrow (Aug 1)
Archery
Women's individual, first round: Nurul Azreena Fazil v Elif Berra Gokkir (Tur)
Badminton
Mixed doubles, quarterfinals: Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei v Kim Won Ho-Jeong Na Eun (Kor)
Women's doubles, quarter-finals: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah v Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Yong (Kor)
Men's doubles quarter-finals: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik v (opponent yet to be decided as of print)
Men's singles round-of-16: Lee Zii Jia vs Anthony Ginting (Indonesia) or Toma Junior Popov (France)
Golf
Men's individual, round one: Gavin Green
Sailing
Men's Dinghy, race one and two: Khairulnizam Affendy
Women's Dinghy, race one and two: Nur Shazrin Latif