Zii Jia wins bronze medal at Olympics

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia secured a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games after defeating Indian player Lakshya Sen in the bronze medal match at Porte de La Chapelle Arena earlier today.

According to Berita Harian, the world number seven overcame a loss in the first set, 13-21, to win 21-16, 21-11, earning Malaysia’s second medal in Paris so far.

This achievement surpasses Zii Jia’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics, where he reached the round of 16 before losing to China’s silver medalist Chen Long with scores of 21-8, 19-21, 5-21.

In the match, Lee Zii Jia struggled in the first set, allowing Lakshya to lead 10-4 and falling behind by six points at the first set interval with Lakshya ahead 11-5.

After the interval, Zii Jia trailed 11-17 but managed to close the gap to 13-19 before Lakshya won the first set 21-13 in 20 minutes.

In the second set, Zii Jia rallied despite being far behind, leveling the score at 8-8. He took the lead at the second set interval with a score of 11-8 and, despite Lakshya leveling the score at 12-12, Zii Jia maintained his lead to win the set 21-16.

In the third set, Zii Jia played aggressively, leading 9-2 at one point. After going ahead 11-6 at the interval, he continued to dominate and finished the match decisively with a 21-11 win.

Earlier, Malaysia’s first medal was won by the men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, who defeated Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 16-21, 22-20, 21-19 in the bronze medal match yesterday.