World No 3 Zii Jia fell 21-15, 21-2 to his Japanese opponent in 29 minutes at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Changzhou in the Olympic bronze medallist’s first tournament after a first round exit at the Japan Open last month.
“To be honest, my body’s condition is quite weird (after the Olympics). I’ve had a lot of injuries and I don’t know why I can’t recover 100%,” he said in a recording shared by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) today.
The 26-year-old independent player hopes to bounce back when he competes at the Arctic Open in Finland from Oct 8-13.
3 Malaysian men’s doubles pairs advance to second round
Meanwhile, men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani kicked off their China Open campaign on a positive note by defeating China’s Chen Bo Yang-Liu Yi in the first round today.
Bernama reported that the world’s 12th-ranked pair had to work hard before overcoming Bo Yang-Liu Yi in a gruelling rubber-set match 17-21, 21-12, 21-19 in 53 minutes.
Awaiting Sze Fei-Izzuddin in the second round are their compatriots Wan Arif Shaharuddin Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, who crushed US pair Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith 21-11, 21-12.
Also advancing to the second round are Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, who defeated the Chinese pair of Xie Hao Nan-Zeng Wei Han 21-17, 21-19.
They will face the winners of another first-round match involving the Malaysian duo of Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri, who are set to meet former world champions Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Sung Jae of South Korea tomorrow.
In the mixed doubles event, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai advanced to the second round after defeating Singaporean pair Hee Yong Kai-Tan Wei Han 21-13, 21-15.
They will face Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran, who received a bye, in the second round.
Meanwhile, women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei failed to progress to the next round after she fell to Taiwan’s Sung Shuo Yun 21-9, 12-21, 21-8.
Besides Jin Wei, men’s doubles pair Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong also bowed out in the first round today after conceding to experienced England pair Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-18, 19-21, 15-21.