Early exit: Lee Zii Jia loses in the first round of home tournament.
BUKIT JALIL: Fan favourite Lee Zii Jia crashed out in the first round of the Malaysian Open badminton championships at the Axiata Arena on Wednesday (Jan 11).
World No. 2 men singles shuttler Zii Jia went down fighting to Japan’s world No. 7 Kodai Naraoka 13-21, 21-17, 21-19 in 73 minutes.
It was the duo's first meeting in the international stage but Naraoka, in the absence of his more illustrious teammate Kento Momota, pulled off a great show to upset the home favourite.
Naraoka will face Ng Tze Yong in the second round on Thursday.
Tze Yong advanced to the second round after beating Nhat Nguyen of Ireland 21-4, 21-10.
In the women’s singles, Goh Jin Wei checked into the second round after beating Yvonne Li of Germany 21-11, 21-18. She plays An Se-young of South Korea next.
