Sri Lanka’s young badminton sensation Viren Nettasinghe went down fighting by straight sets against World No.7 Zii Jia Lee of Malaysia in their opening Group ‘G’ game played at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena in Paris, France. The young prodigy, making his Olympic debut as the youngest ever shuttler to earn a direct qualification to the Paris Games 2024, however never made it easy to the experienced Malaysian shuttler.
Nettasinghe made promising starts in both sets, earning early leads to cause initial trouble against his much experienced Malaysian rival, who clinically countered the spirited Sri Lankan, thwarting a possible victory. Yesterday’s game however, will make the 21-year-old Sri Lankan’s next group game hopes against Spaniard Pablo Abian of possibly earning an Olympic win on Tuesday.
The Sri Lankan top ranked shuttler made a dream start to gain the first couple of points against the current seventh ranked player in the world, but with his experience Zii Jia Lee outsmarted Nettasinghe comprehensively. Eventually the first set ended in favour of Malaysia’s Lee, who claimed a 21-14 win against the spirited Sri Lankan youngster.
The fighting spirit of the young Sri Lankan was more evident in the second set though he went down fighting 12-21, conceding a straight win to the much experienced Malaysian. Nettasinghe put the first points on board and came neck-to-neck against Lee, as the second set was locked at 8-all at one stage.
But the seasoned Malaysian shuttler made use of his experience as a top world shuttler to shun down all efforts made by the spirited Nettasinghe, currently ranked 72th in the world. Eventually Lee went well ahead of Nettasinghe to claim a resounding 21-12 win, sealing the first Group ‘G’ game in straight sets.
Nettasinghe’s next outing will be against Spain’s seasoned player Pablo Abian, who is currently ranked 62nd in the world. Nettasinghe will meet the 39-year-old in his second group game on Tuesday, July 30th at 12:00noon local time, approximately 3:30pm Sri Lanka time at the La Chappelle Arena in Paris. Only the top player of each group will advance to the Round of 16 at the Paris Games.
On Friday, Nettasinghe carried the National flag at the opening ceremony held on the picturesque River Seine, as he made his Olympic debut.