KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia's lofty ambition of becoming a world champion has been dashed.
The world No 5 crashed out of the World Championships in the third round in Tokyo today after losing 21-19, 11-21, 21-19 to Zhao Jun Peng of China.
Zii Jia only had himself to blame after allowing the world No 23 Jun Peng to claw back from 14-10 down in the rubber game.
Zii Jia's last 16 defeat also marked his worst ever result in his three appearances at the world meet.
Previously, he had made it to quarter-finals in the 2019 and 2021 editions in Basel, Switzerland and Huelva, Spain respectively.
In a brief interview, a dejected Zii Jia claimed that he had lost to a better opponent.
"I made a lot of mistakes today, Zhao has played a good game today. I should have played more patiently," said Zii Jia.
"I still need to stabilise my performance. Zhao had very good control in every aspects of the game, especially his net play," said Zii Jia.