Ill Zii Jia takes pride in Hylo Open fight despite exit
Lee Zii Jia says he made progress despite illness and a last-16 Hylo Open loss to Kodai Naraoka, but has withdrawn from next week's Korea Open in Yeosu City.
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Lee Zii Jia said he was proud of his fight at the Hylo Open despite a last-16 defeat to Japan’s Kodai Naraoka on Thursday in Saarbrucken, Germany. The Malaysian world No. 42 had been dealing with illness before the tournament but pushed the world No. 9 through three games at the Saarlandhalle Indoor Arena.
Naraoka, a World Championships silver medallist, won 21-11, 13-21, 21-14 in 63 minutes. The result ended Zii Jia’s run at the Super 500 event after he had also needed three games to beat Singapore’s Jason Teh in the first round on Wednesday.
Two matches despite illness
Zii Jia had been in danger of missing the tournament altogether after suffering a stomach ailment, fever and chills on Tuesday. He played through those concerns to reach the second round, then extended his contest against Naraoka to a deciding game.
“Always a battle against Kodai san,” Zii Jia wrote in an Instagram post. “The cats were out of the bag on my condition prior to the start of the tournament, but gladly, my determination to fight against it, showed on the court in these two matches here in Saarbrucken.”
He added: “All in all, progress has been made and see you again Hylo Open.” The former All England champion had also revealed that he was drawing inspiration from K-pop sensation IU (Lee Ji-eun) and her music as he battled to stay afloat in Germany.
Recent form and recovery
The Hylo Open followed an encouraging Arctic Open for Zii Jia three weeks earlier. There, the former world No. 2 beat current world No. 1 Christo Popov of France before going out in the semi-finals.
His immediate schedule has now changed because of his health concerns. Zii Jia has withdrawn from next week’s Korea Open in Yeosu City, where he had been due to play in the qualifying rounds.
He remains listed as a reserve for the Kumamoto Masters in Japan from Nov 15-20 and the Hong Kong Open from Nov 17-22. His focus now turns to regaining full fitness before the Super 300 Syed Modi International in Lucknow from Nov 24-29.
Source: NST 羽球. This article was compiled by the iBET.news newsroom from the source report and other public information.
