KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 10 Lee Zii Jia attributed his dominant win against Kenta Nishimoto in Thursday's Thomas Cup quarter-finals to his ability to handle pressure as Malaysia's first singles.
Zii Jia outclassed Nishimoto, the world No. 11, 21-13, 21-3 to hand Malaysia the crucial first point.
It was Zii Jia's eighth and most emphatic win over Nishimoto in 11 encounters.
To be fair to Nishimoto, the first singles role, supposed to be assumed by world No. 5 Kodai Naraoka, appeared to be overwhelming for him to fill in.
For Zii Jia, in contrary, he knew exactly what was expected from him being the first to go into action.
For the record, the duel with Nishimoto was Zii Jia's 10th appearance as first singles and has now taken his points tally to seven.
"To be honest, I knew how big this point was for the team because it would give my teammates ahead of their matches," said Zii Jia in a post-match interview.
"So, I was very happy and excited after winning the match.
"I'm confident that my teammates will do their best to earn more points.
"I've been playing in team events (as first singles) and dealt with situation like this. The experiences stand me in good stead for matches like this as I've been ready for it.
"I'm happy with the way I handle the pressure."
