KUALA LUMPUR: Star shuttler Lee Zii Jia kept his quest for Olympic gold alive and kicking but Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah's hopes of securing bronze were dashed at the Paris Olympics today.
World No. 7 Zii Jia upset fourth seeded Anders Antonsen (Denmark) 21-17, 21-15 in their men's singles quarterfinal encounter at La Chapelle Arena early this morning.
Zii Jia will face another challenging opponent in the semi-finals tomorrow in the form of current world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
Pearly-Thinaah pushed China's world No.1 pair Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yifan to the limit before going down in their women's doubles semi-finals yesterday.
The world No.12 pair, however, found themselves outclassed by Japan's world No. 4 duo Chiharu Shida-Nami Matsuyama in the bronze medal decider today, going down tamely to the latter 21-11, 21-11.
Malaysia has another chance to claim bronze tomorrow when Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik take on Denmark's Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the men's doubles third-place playoff.
In athletics, sprinter Azeem Fahmi's Olympic debut came to a disappointing end after he crashed out in the first round in the men's 100m event.
The 20-year-old clocked 10.42 seconds in the preliminaries to qualify for the first round. He, however, could only manage 10.45s which saw him placing last in his first round heat and thus did not advance.
It was a disappointing performance from Azeem as he was nowhere near his own national record of 10.09s.
In sailing, Nur Shazrin Latif is currently in 32nd position overall from 43 sailors in the women's dinghy event after placing 29th, 20th and 32nd in race four, five and six in Marseille today.
Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy fared similarly in the men's dinghy event after placing 30th (race five) and 26th (race six) today. He is now in 28th place overall from 43 sailors.
In golf, Gavin Green carded a two-under 69 for the second day in a row in the third round of the men's individual event at Le Golf National. Play has yet to conclude as of writing.
Results
Athletics
Men's 100m, 1st round, heat 2: Azeem Fahmi 10.45s, No 9.
Badminton
Men's singles, quarterfinals: Lee Zii Jia def Anders Antonsen (Den) 21-17, 21-15
Women's doubles, bronze medal playoff: Chiharu Shida-Nami Matsuyama (Jap) def Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah 21-11, 21-11
Sailing:
Women's dinghy:
Nur Shazrin Latif - race 4 (No. 29), race 5 (No. 20), race 6 (No. 32)
Men's dinghy:
Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy - race 5 (No. 30), race 6 (No. 26)
Malaysians in action tomorrow (August 4)
Badminton
Men's singles, semi-finals: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) v Lee Zii Jia
Men's doubles, bronze medal playoff: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik v Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den)
Cycling - Road
Women's road race: Nur Aisyah Zubir
Golf
Men's individual stroke play, round 4: Gavin Green
Sailing
Men's dinghy, races 7-8: Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy
Women's dinghy, races 7-8: Nur Shazrin Latif