KUALA LUMPUR – National top men’s singles shuttler and Olympic medal hope, Lee Zii Jia (picture) suffered another early round heartbreak at the Singapore Open 2023 Badminton Championships.

The world number 10 Zii Jia, failed to clear the first-round hurdle in the Super 750 tournament at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, as he went down 20-22, 21-16, 19-21 after a 74-minute battle against world number 27 Weng Hong Yang of China, last night.

Two weeks ago, the 25-year-old crashed out in the second round of the Malaysia Masters, going down against Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei 19-21, 21-16, 15-21.

The defeat, added to a series of poor runs since early this year, which saw him fell two rungs to 10th place in the world ranking after having reached the world number two spot last October.

Hong Yang, the 2023 Malaysia Masters runner-up, will next face compatriot and the reigning All-England champion Li Shi Feng, who send off Malaysian shuttler Cheam June Wei 16-21, 21-19, 14-21 earlier.

Former junior world champion, Goh Jin Wei was also shown the exit in the women’s singles, losing 11-21, 11-21 to world number seven Wang Zhi Yi of China.

In the mixed doubles, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei stunned world number 15 Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya of Japan 21-19, 21-11 to cruise into the second round.

The world number 21 duo, will be up against Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek of the Netherlands in the last 16, today. – Bernama