The mainstay of Malaysia’s men’s singles, Lee Zii Jia, withdrew when he had only played 13 minutes in the first round or the top 32 of the 2021 Indonesia Masters. Based on his confession, Lee Zii Jia withdrew due to a back injury. Apart from that, he also felt tired all over his body.
In the first round of the 2021 Indonesia Masters, Lee Zii Jia as the seventh seed is scheduled to compete against the Danish representative, Rasmus Gemke. The match took place at the Bali International Convention Center, Nusa Dua, on Tuesday (16/11/2021) afternoon. Lee Zii Jia, whose performance is on the rise, had to accept the harsh reality of this match.
When he resigned, Lee Zii Jia was trailing 9-11 to Rasmus Gemke. After leaving the field, Lee Zii Jia revealed that he had not fully recovered from his back injury. “I still feel pain in my back. My current condition is still 60 percent so I can’t continue the match,” said Lee Zii Jia. “It’s not only a back injury, but my whole body is also tired,” added Lee Zii Jia.
Lee Zii Jia suffered a back injury while competing at the Hylo Germany Open, early last November, when he met Singapore’s representative Loh Kean Yew in the top party. At that time, Lee Zii Jia withdrew in the third game, when the position was 12-17 for Loh Kean Yew’s advantage. The injury certainly disrupted his readiness for the 2021 Indonesia Masters.
In fact, Lee Zii Jia felt unfit from the start of the tournament with a total prize of 600,000 US dollars. However, the 2021 All England champion still decided to appear after receiving a recommendation from the men’s singles coach, Wong Choong Hann. His decision to play it safe was understandable as he knew that this week’s result would not have much impact on his chances to qualify for the World Tour Finals from Dec 1-5, which culminates in the three back-to-back events including next week’s Indonesian Open (Nov 23-28).
Zii Jia is currently ranked first in the Race to Bali rankings and is likely to remain in the top eight even if he does not feature in the second leg next week.
