OSAKA: Is Lee Zii Jia starting to crumble under pressure?
All signs are pointing towards that possibility after the 24-year-old men's singles suffered his worst-ever outing this year with a first-round exit at the Japan Open in Osaka today.
Just when fans were expecting Zii Jia to respond positively to his mediocre World Championships outing last week, the world No 4 lost 22-20, 23-21 to India's K. Srikanth.
It was the Malaysian's first defeat to the world No 12 after three meetings.
Following a roaring start to his professional career, Zii Jia, who won the Asia Championships and Thailand Open, has failed to make it to the quarter-finals in his last three tournaments.
And a first-round exit this week — his first since the Indonesia Open last November — certainly does not augur well for the national No 1.
A former international, who wanted to remain anonymous, believes Zii Jia should hire an experienced advisor to rebuild his confidence and professional career.
Currently, his elder sister, Lee Zii Yii, a former national player, manages his career.
"It is obvious that Zii Jia is struggling to cope with pressure," said the former international.
"He needs more help and proper guidance. It would be good if he gets someone to advise him on expectations, tournament planning, training programme, public relations and image.
"He also needs better sparring partners. The sparring quality is definitely lacking at the moment.
"He probably did not feel the effect too much in the first few months after leaving the national team as he was still in good shape, but the same cannot be said now.
"It all depends on him how to turn things around. We all hope to see him bounce back soon."
Zii Jia's defeat summed up a poor day for Malaysia in the men's singles campaign as Liew Daren also fell in the first hurdle, losing 21-17, 18-21, 21-6 to Japan's Kodai Naraoka in Osaka.
In men's doubles, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi defeated Ruben Jille-Ties Van Der Lecq of the Netherlands 21-17, 21-9 to check into the last 16.
In mixed doubles, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing came out tops in the all-Malaysian affair against Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See, winning 21-10, 21-14.
SELECTED RESULTS
Men's singles, 1st rd: K. Srikanth (Ind) bt Lee Zii Jia (Mas) 22-20, 23-21; Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) bt Lakhsya Sen 18-21, 21-14, 21-13; Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo (Ina) bt Kento Momota (Jpn) 21-15, 22-20; Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Liew Daren (Mas) 21-17, 18-21, 21-6; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-13, 21-10; Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Mark Caljouw (Ned) 21-13, 22-24, 21-10.
Doubles: Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupon Kedren (Tha) bt Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah (Mas) 21-19, 21-15; Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (Mas) bt Ruben Jille-Ties Van Der Lecq (Ned) 21-7, 21-9.
Women's singles: An Se Young (Kor) bt Aya Ohori (Jpn) 21-16, 21-15; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Saina Nehwal (Ind) 21-9, 21-17; Chen Yu Fei (Chn) bt Line Kjaersfeldt (Den) 21-12, 21-15; Tai Tzu Ying (Tai) bt Mia Blichfeldt (Den) 14-21, 21-15, 21-14; Carolina Marin (Spa) bt Zhang Yi Man (Chn) 21-19, 21-11.
Mixed doubles: Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) bt Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See (Mas) 21-10, 21-14.