Zii Jia loses to Guangzu, misses ticket to Finals

Zii Jia

PETALING JAYA: Independent men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia will not get to to compete in the season-ender World Tour Finals after all.

The world No. 2 needed a win against world No. 19 Lu Guangzu of China in the second round of the Australian Open in Sydney on Thursday (Nov 17) but he went down fighting 22-20, 15-21, 16-21 in 70 minutes.

He needed to reach at least the semi-finals to keep his hopes alive for a place in the Finals, in Bangkok, from Dec 7-11.

It was the 24-year-old Zii Jia's first defeat at the hands of Guangzu after beating him in their past two meetings at the 2019 World Championships and 2020 All-England.

Guangzu will now make the cut for the prestigious Finals after taking the eighth and last spot.