PETALING JAYA: Men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia suffered heartache after he was forced to retire due to injury against China's Li Shifeng in the last Group A match in the World Tour Finals.
World No. 8 Zii Jia was assured of a spot in the last four after impressive wins over Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen and Denmark's Anders Antonsen in his earlier group matches.
The independent player was on track for his third consecutive win after winning the first game 22-20 and leading 13-5 in the second against Shifeng but fell awkwardly and injured his right ankle in Hangzhou on Friday (Dec 13).
Zii Jia tried to continue playing after receiving treatment but was forced to throw in the towel.
Under the rule of the tournament, all Zii Jia's previous group wins will be null and void as he had withdrawn from his last group match.
It was a sad end for the 26-year-old in his last tournament under coach Wong Tat Meng.
Meanwhile, there was better fortunes for independent men's doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani after they booked their spot in the semi-finals by beating Taiwan's two-time Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin 24-22, 21-12 in Group A.
It was Sze Fei-Izzuddin's second win after winning against Taiwanese duo Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan a day earlier.
