KUALA LUMPUR: The rise of Lee Zii Jia and doubles pair Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King at the Arctic Open last week was shown by the Malaysians' prominent presence on the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) 'Supersmash Leaderboard'.
The BWF releases the top 10 fastest smashes in each category after the completion of World Tour events.
Roy King occupied the top spot in the men's doubles category with a 459.6 kilometres per hour (km/h) smash, as well as the third spot with a speed of 447.3km/h.
His partner Aaron wasn't far off, as he sat in sixth spot with an impressive 439.4km/h, highlighting why the Malaysian duo were so effective in winning the Super 500 event in their first outing as a pair.
Their aggressive speed and courtcraft were a delight to watch, and their stinging smashes were nightmares for their rivals in Vantaa, Finland.
This trend has continued this week at the Denmark Open, and it will not be surprising if world No. 116 Roy King-Aaron find their names on the BWF Supersmash Leaderboard again next week.
Meanwhile, Zii Jia was not the top performer on the men's singles list in Finland, but four of his booming smashes were listed in the top 10.
The independent world No. 42 player's best smash was listed at No. 5 with a speed of 439.9km/h, followed by sixth (436.3km/h), seventh (433.9km/h) and ninth (432.8km/h) spots.
Taiwan's world No. 4 Chou Tien Chen recorded the fastest smash at the Arctic Open with 468.2km/h.
The return of Zii Jia's powerful smashes, his main weapon during his peak, promises more explosive performances in the coming tournaments.
India's men's doubles ace Satwiksairaj Rankireddy holds the world record for the fastest smash at 565km/h, while the women's mark is held by none other than Malaysian ace Pearly Tan at 438 km/h.
Both records were set during a special test at Yonex's Tokyo factory gymnasium in Saitama, Japan, on April 14, 2023.
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