Lee Zii Jia lost to world No 1 Kento Momota and fifth-ranked Anthony Ginting in the recent Thomas Cup.
Lee Zii Jia lost to world No 1 Kento Momota and fifth-ranked Anthony Ginting in the recent Thomas Cup.

Men's singles Lee Zii Jia insists he is still fresh and ready to compete at the highest level in tournaments.

The world No 8 failed to make an impact in the recent Thomas Cup, losing back-to-back matches to world No 1 Kento Momota of Japan and fifth-ranked Anthony Ginting of Indonesia.

However, the All-England champion has backed himself to continue challenging for titles, starting with the ongoing Denmark Open.

The seventh-seeded Zii Jia bounced back from a first-game blemish for a 12-21, 21-9, 21-18 win over world No 10 Wang Tzu Wei at the Odense Sports Park on Wednesday.

"I'm definitely still feeling fresh after two major events, and there are more events to come," said Zii Jia.

"I hope that I can still maintain this high level of performance in the coming tournaments.

"Of course, the first round was not easy as I could not control the shuttle in the first game.

"But I worked on my control in the second game. The rubber game was tough, but I won the crucial points.

"I need to be more patient and cut down on my mistakes going forward," added Zii Jia.

Zii Jia played former national shuttler Liew Daren in a late second-round encounter yesterday.

World No 35 Daren had claimed a fine first-round win when he upset 19th-ranked Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21-18, 23-21.

Men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi also cleared their opening rounds, beating the Netherlands' Ruben Jille-Ties Van Der Lecq and Denmark's Joel Eipe-Rasmus Kjaer respectively.

Former Olympic silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying, however, crashed out in the first round, losing 21-17, 21-19 to Hong Kong's Chang Tak Ching-Ng Wing Yung.

The world No 13 pair of Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai also exited after losing 21-14, 21-12 to third seeds Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti of Indonesia yesterday.

Soon Huat-Shevon barely broke a sweat on Wednesday when China's He Jiting-Liu Xuanxuan withdrew whilst trailing 6-1 in the first game.