Lee Cheuk Yiu dug deep to edge HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2025 champion Christo Popov in a pulsating 74-minute battle that went down to the very last shuttle at PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2026.

Playing their first match since March 2024, the Hong Kong China shuttler overturned a tough start to prevail 13-21 21-19 23-21.

Popov, sharper and confident following a stellar run in Hangzhou two weeks ago, appeared to have the upper hand early, taking the opening game and pressing again in the decider. Then, standing on the brink at 19-17, came the calm Lee has been chasing for years.

He reeled Popov back in, levelled at 19-all, saved match point and finally pipped the Frenchman with ice-cold execution.

“The match was very close but I gave my all,” Lee said. “Not bad because Christo is the World Tour Finals champion.”

The victory carried extra weight after a frustrating 2025, in which Lee exited 10 of his 17 tournaments in the first round. This time, belief held firm.

“The key to winning was my mindset,” he explained. “It’s been my career’s problem but I’m working on it. Today I was calm enough to play each point, each shot and that way I could bring out my best.”

Lee also noted how much Popov had progressed since their last encounter.

“He’s improved a lot, it felt like I was playing a different guy,” Lee said, acknowledging his opponent’s rising standard.

Next up is Lakshya Sen, and with their head-to-head locked at 2-2, another tight contest looms as Lee looks to build on a rare moment of control.

→ Results (Day 1)

→ Order of play (Day 2)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“I’m not 100 per cent yet and I’m not satisfied with my performance. I will work harder for the India Open and Indonesia Masters to get better.” – Lee Zii Jia after his comeback was stopped by Ayush Shetty in the first round

“It feels amazing because I never thought I would qualify for these big events. I thought it would be a couple of years to build up. Growth is not always linear. I stole that from one of the commentators and it’s a great line.” – Victor Lai after a 16-21 23-21 21-7 win over Yushi Tanaka at his maiden Super 1000 event

“We want to work hard aiming for a title with the goals of finishing in the top eight of the rankings and winning at least a 750 event.” – Yugo Kobayashi after he and Takuro Hoki beat fourth seeds Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang

“The power and strength aren’t really there. I took a short break after the World Tour Finals but I still feel a little tired. I need to fully recover from that.” – An Se Young explaining her lack of energy in the 19-21 21-16 21-18 win over Michelle Li