Can demoralised Zii Jia turn things around at his favourite hunting ground in Birmingham?

PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia faces a tough fight to maintain his good record in the All-England next week if his performance in the ongoing French Open is anything to go by.

Zii Jia has never failed to reach at least the semi-finals of the All-England since competing in the prestigious tournament since 2020.

The 25-year-old captured the title in 2021 and made it into the last four in 2020, 2022 and 2023.

Zii Jia now has a huge task ahead of him to match his previous achievements after disappointingly going down 15-21, 19-21 to Denmark’s world No. 33 Magnus Johannesen in the first round of the French tourney at the Adidas Arena in Paris on Wednesday.

The world No. 10 had beaten Johannesen in their only meeting before this in the German Open last year but could not replicate the success this time.

Zii Jia, who was Malaysia’s sole representative in the men’s singles, admitted that he lost to the better player on the day.

“Magnus played a very good game today (Wednesday),” said Zii Jia in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

“To be honest, I didn’t control the game throughout.

“I had a chance to make a difference in the last few points in the second game but I could not in the end.”

Zii Jia knows he needs to raise his game if he hopes to do better in the All-England.

He faces Japan’s world No. 6 Kodai Naraoka in the first round but the Japanese too did not enjoy a good run in Paris.

Naraoka suffered a shock 21-14, 20-22, 17-21 defeat to Indonesia’s world No. 32 Chico Aura.

Zii Jia had beaten Naraoka in the last eight last year.

If the Malaysian goes through, Singapore’s 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew and Denmark’s in form Anders Antonsen could also stand in his way in the second round and quarter-finals respectively.

The independent player though can take heart after turning around his form impressively in the prestigious tournament last year after he had suffered early round exits in all his other individual outings in the beginning of the year.