Zii Jia’s first-round exit only gives his critics more ammunition

Lee Zii Jia in action.

PETALING JAYA: It seems nothing is going right for national men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia at the moment.

Right on the heels of his disappointing third-round exit at the World Championships, Zii Jia suffered another early exit when he fell to India’s K. Srikanth in the first round of the Japan Open yesterday.

The Malaysian went down 20-22, 21-23 to the Indian in 38 minutes at the Maruzen Intec Arena in Osaka.

It was world No. 4 Zii Jia’s first loss to world No. 14 Srikanth in three meetings.

The defeat will only give the 24-year-old’s critics more ammunition after he was heavily criticised for not going far in the world meet despite boldly stating his intention to capture the title and skipping the Birmingham Commonwealth Games to be better prepared to do so.

In fine fettle: Malaysia’s Tan Kian Meng (left) and Lai Pei Jing downed teammates Chan Peng Soon and Cheah Yee See in the mixed doubles to reach the second round of the Japan Open yesterday.

Zii Jia was not the only big name to bite the dust early in the Japan Open as home favourite Kento Momota (No. 2) and Srikanth’s compatriot, Lakshya Sen (No. 10) also fell by the wayside while Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting (No. 5) conceded a walkover to the recent world meet’s silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.

Momota was stunned 15-21, 20-22 by another Indonesian Chico Aura (No. 35) while Lakshya went down 21-18, 14-21, 13-21 to homester Kenta Nishimoto (No. 21).

Meanwhile, independent player Liew Daren also exited the tournament after losing 17-21, 21-18, 6-21 to another home player Kodai Naraoka.

In the men’s doubles, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi kept national interests alive after sweeping aside Dutch pair Ruben Jille-Ties Van Der Lecq 21-17, 21-9 in just 28 minutes.

Yew Sin-Ee Yi will likely face Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov of France next.

Another pair Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah were eliminated after they lost to Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren 19-21, 15-21.

In the mixed doubles, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing booked their spot in the second round after beating compatriots Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See 21-10, 21-14.

World No. 12 Kian Meng-Pei Jing will play Taiwan’s Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang (No. 34) for a place in the quarter-finals.

Despite being higher ranked, the Malaysians are not underestimating the Taiwanese pair.

“I think they are tough opponents too as they are capable of beating top pairs. We need to prepare well for this match,” said Pei Jing.