KUALA LUMPUR: It's on.
The much-anticipated clash between Lee Zii Jia and Kento Momota at the All England is set to take centrestage at the Arena Birmingham today after the sixth and second seeds checked into the quarter-finals in contrasting fashions.
Defending champion Zii Jia survived a scare in the opening game as he staved off a spirited challenge from Canadian rising star Brian Yang for a 26-24, 21-11 win in 45 minutes.
Zii Jia has now reached his third successive quarter-finals in the world's oldest tournament.
He was a semi-finalist when he made his debut in 2020.
But Zii Jia better be prepared to face a revitalised world No 2 Momota who will be buoyed by his win over nemesis Heo Kwang Hee of South Korea.
Momota defeated Kwang Hee 21-16, 21-12 to finally put his two previous dissapointments behind him.
The Korean had first dashed Momota's hopes of winning an Olympic gold on home soil last year after dumping him out in the group stage before pulling off another win during the Thomas Cup Finals.
Despite boasting a superior 8-2 head-to-head record against Zii Jia, Momota will still be eager to settle a score with Zii Jia after losing to the Malaysian in the last right of last year's edition.
Then, Zii Jia won 21-16, 21-19.
Meanwhile, Liew Daren's challenge came to an end after going down to fourth seed Chou Tien Chen.
The 34-year-old put up a commendable fight before losing 18-21, 21-13, 21-9.
RESULTS - SECOND ROUND
MALAYSIANS ONLY
Men's singles: Lee Zii Jia bt Brian Yang (Can) 26-24, 21-11; Liew Daren lost to Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 18-21, 21-13, 21-9.
Men's doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik lost to He Ji Ting-Tan Qiang (Chn) 21-15, 21-19; Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi lost to Muhammad Shobihul Fikri-Bagas Maulana (Ina) 24-22, 13-21, 21-17.
Women's doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 18-21, 21-19, 21-16.
Mixed doubles: Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing bt Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) 21-19, 21-17; Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See lost to Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti (Ina) 21-16, 21-14; Ong Yew Sin-Goh Liu Ying lost to Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) 21-5, 21-15.