A letdown: Lee Zii Jia lost 16-21, 23-21, 20-22 to India’s H.S Prannoy. — S.S.KANESAN/The Star
FOR the second Asian Games in a row, Malaysia failed to have a representative in the semi-finals of the men’s singles event following the exits of Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong in Hangzhou yesterday.
Lee Chong Wei was the last Malaysian to reach the semi-finals before going down to eventual champion Lin Dan of China at the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea.
It was an heartbreaking defeat for Zii Jia when he squandered a two-match points at 20-18 against India’s world No. 7 H. S. Prannoy before losing agonisingly 16-21, 23-21, 20-22 in a nail biting quarter-final match at the Binjiang Gymnasium.
He threw everything at the 31-year-old Prannoy but could not break down the Indian, who managed to prevail despite seeming to struggle with fatigue and a lower back injury.
It looked like all over for the 25-year-old in the second game when Prannoy led 20-18.
Zii Jia though showed great determination to fight back to 20-20 and held game points at 21-20 and 22-21 before staying cool to get the crucial point to win the game.
“I did everything I could but could not win,” lamented a disappointed Zii Jia in a post-match interview with Astro Arena.
“I was behind but managed to come back in the second game. I was leading at the end in the third game but he (Prannoy) could catch up and win.
“I couldn’t have done any more. I wanted a good result more than anyone else but while my performance was good, I couldn’t get the win.”
It was Zii Jia’s second consecutive narrow defeat to World Championships bronze medallist Prannoy after going down 21-18, 13-21, 23-25 to the Indian in a group match in the Asian Mixed Team Championships in February.
Overall, Prannoy has now beaten Zii Jia twice in three meetings in international competitions.
Meanwhile, it was also a sad end for world No. 19 Tze Yong who went down 20-22, 15-21 to Japan’s world No. 3 Kodai Naraoka.
“Everyone wants to win and I tried my best,” said Tze Yong.
“I made more mistakes than my opponent today (yesterday).”
It was Tze Yong’s second loss to Naraoka in senior international events after also suffering the same fate in the Malaysian Open in January.
