KUALA LUMPUR: Professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia has withdrawn from the Swiss Open next week due to injury.
Zii Jia, who suffered a first round exit at the All-England on Tuesday, cited an ankle injury that has yet to fully heal as the reason for pulling out after losing 21-19, 16-21, 12-21 to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long .
Ironically, the world No. 7 was set for a rematch against Angus in the first round of the Swiss tourney.
"Team LZJ can confirm that Lee Zii Jia is withdrawing from the upcoming Swiss Open in Basel due to his right ankle injury.
"Zii Jia will seek further treatment before any announcement is made on his tournament plans," Team LZJ said in a statement on Thursday.
The 25 year-old has already missed several tournaments this year due to the injury and only returned to action at the Orleans Masters last week.
Despite being the top seed, he fell short in his comeback campaign, bowing out in the quarter-finals to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen.
With the withdrawal and question mark on his return, Zii Jia is expected to drop out of the top 10
