KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 — Another year, another early exit.
Professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia cannot seem to find the magic potion to break the "early exit” curse after losing 21-16, 19-21, 15-21 to China's Lu Guang Zu in the first round of the 2024 Malaysia Open badminton championships at the Axiata Arena today.
The unseeded Lee has only himself to blame as he squandered a bright start in the first game to allow world number 19 Lu to stage a fightback and take the match to a rubber game.
Rattled, he made numerous mistakes in the final game as Lu remained composed to silence the home crowd and book his place in the second round.
This is Lee's third straight early exit in the Malaysia Open — having lost 19-21, 21-19, 16-21 to Indonesia’s Shisar Hiren Rhustavito in the second round in 2022 and 21-13, 17-21, 19-21 to Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the opening round last year.
He had also made an early exit in the Malaysia Open in 2019, going down 17-21, 21-19, 15-21 to Thailand's Suppanyu Avihingsanon in the first round.
World number 11 Lee admitted that Guang Zu performed much better today, especially in defensive play throughout the third game.
“I did whatever the coach taught me, just that I was not consistent enough. However, many more tournaments are coming up, and I just have to keep trying harder,” he said.
The 25-year-old, however, believes in his abilities and is confident he will win on home soil one day.
"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I hate having to answer if I can come back stronger after a defeat; tired of repeating the same thing, but I must be patient. (I) Do not know when I can stand up there as a winner… hopefully, one day,” he said.
The Kedah shuttler will be back in action at next week's 2024 India Open in New Delhi, where he will take on Canada's Brian Yang in the first round.
Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia brushed aside Taiwan’s Su Li Yang 21-18, 21-12 to set up a second-round date with Lu.
World number 25 Toma Junior Popov of France created an upset when he dumped world number 14 and 2020 Olympic Games bronze medallist Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan 21-11, 19-21, 21-15.
In the second round, Popov will face seventh seed Shi Yu Qi after the China ace fought back from a game down to dispatch Dane Rasmus Gemke 20-22, 21-12, 21-10.
— Bernama
