PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia’s participation in the Malaysian Open from Jan 7-12 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil is in doubt after he suffered an ankle injury in the World Tour Finals.
World No. 8 Zii Jia was on course to reach the last four in the Finals when he led 22-20 and 13-5 against China’s Li Shifeng in the last Group A match but landed awkwardly and injured his right ankle in Hangzhou yesterday.
The independent player tried to play on but was forced to retire at 11-15. Zii Jia had to be wheeled out of the court on a wheelchair and now faces a nervous wait to see the extent of the injury.
It was a sad end to the 26-year-old’s campaign as he had been impressive throughout the tournament prior to the injury when he beat Denmark’s world No. 2 Anders Antonsen and Taiwan’s world No. 9 Chou Tien-chen in his earlier group matches.
According to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rules, Zii Jia’s earlier results are considered null and void after he retired from the match.
The Kedahan unfortunately could not give coach Wong Tat Meng a memorable parting gift in their last competition together.
Zii Jia will now be hoping that his injury is not serious enough to rule his out of the Malaysian tourney.
