KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s top men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia suffered the embarrassment of a first-round exit on home ground when he was sent packing 21-13, 17-21, 19-21 by rising Japanese star Kodai Naraoka in the Malaysia Open at the Axiata Arena here.
Although world number two Zii Jia started well with a 21-13 win in the first game, the seventh-ranked Japanese gallantly fought back to take the second game 21-17.
The closely-fought third game saw the 21-year-old Japanese ace emerged victorious after a 72-minute battle.
Naraoka will now face another Malaysian – Ng Tze Yong – in the last 16 tomorrow.
Zii Jia has suffered early exits in the Malaysia Open before. Apart from his second-round loss to unheralded Indonesian player Shesar Hiren Rhustavito last year, he also suffered a first-round defeat to Thailand’s Suppanyu Avihingsanon in 2019.