sb.scorecardresearch

Published 16:17 IST, March 22nd 2022

Lee Zii Jia's insane 372km/h backhand bullet shot vs Sen leaves fans stunned; Watch

Lee Zii Jia produced a moment of magic at the All England Championship 2022 by smacking an insane 372 km/h overhand backhand that gave Sen no time to react.

Reported by: Vidit Dhawan
Follow: Google News Icon
  • share
Lee Zii Jia and Lakshya Sen at All England Championship
Image: AP/@BAI_Media/Twitter | Image: self

Even though Lakshya Sen defeated 2021 All England Open champion Lee Zii Jia to reach the finals of the event, his Malaysian opponent produced a moment of magic that took the badminton world by storm.

Zii Jia smacked an insane 372 km/h overhand backhand that gave Sen no time to react. Following the 23-year old's quick-fire shot, several netizens took to social media to react to Zii Jia's outstanding shot.

Fans react to Lee Zii Jia's insane 372 km/h backhand

As seen in the Tweets below, Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia hit a stunning 372 km/h backhand smash that gave Lakshya Sen no time to react as he could barely get his racket to the shuttle. Some fans referred to the backhand smash as the trademark shot of Zii Jia, having recalled a similar smash against Momota in 2019. 

Lakshya Sen beat Zii Jia to reach All England Championship finals

Despite producing that stunning moment, Lee Zii Jia could not get the better of Lakshya Sen, who produced an outstanding comeback victory after being down in the third and final game. The 20-year old defeated his Malaysian opponent 21-13, 12-21, 21-19 on March 19 to become only the fifth Indian to ever reach the finals of the All England Championship.

However, he could not replicate a similar level of performance in the finals as he lost to world number one and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. Axelsen beat Sen 10-21, 15-21 in the summit clash that lasted only 53 minutes as the 20-year old Indian made far too many errors to get a foothold at any point of the match.

Following a stunning display at the All England Championships, Lakshya Sen climbed two spots to achieve a career-high ranking of ninth as per the latest badminton world rankings. The 20-year old Indian entered the top 10 of BWF world rankings with 74,786 points by replacing Singapore's Loh Kean Yew.

Sen has been in excellent form over the past few months as he became the first Indian to win the Indian Open men's singles title earlier this year when he defeated Kean Yew. Moreover, the 20-year old also won the bronze at the BWF World Championships last year when he lost to compatriot Kidambi Srikanth in the semis.

Updated 16:17 IST, March 22nd 2022