KUALA LUMPUR, Professional men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia began his Arctic Open title defence by ousting Frenchman Christo Popov 21-15, 21-11 at the Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland today. The world number four needed 43 minutes to clear the first hurdle of the World Tour Super 500 event. In the second round, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist is set to face Japan's Yushi Tanaka, who beat China's Lei Lan Xi 21-17, 27-29, 21-16. The 26-year-old Zii Jia clinched the title last October after beating compatriot Ng Tze Yong in the final to end his 17-month title drought on the World Tour. Since wining the Olympics bronze, Zii Jia suffered first-round eliminations in two consecutive World Tour events - the Japan Open and the China Open. However, Malaysia's other men's singles representative, Leong Jun Hao suffered a first-round exit after losing 19-21, 9-21 to Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu. Source: BERNAMA News Agency