SINGAPORE: With the Paris Olympics less than two months away, an injured Lee Zii Jia is not taking any risks.
He has decided to withdraw from the Singapore Open and give a first round walkover to defending champion Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia today.
His team, TeamLZJ, issued a statement on social media: "It is a difficult decision having to concede a walkover at the Singapore Open.
"But after medical assessment in Singapore, Zii Jia is advised not to participate due to hamstring injuries sustained during the Thailand Open and Malaysian Masters.
"(The) focus for Zii Jia's programme now will shift towards rehabilitation."
Zii Jia's withdrawal will now lead to Anthony facing Malaysia's Leong Jun Hao in the second round tomorrow.
World No. 9 Zii Jia was in good form earlier, winning the Thailand Open (May 14-19) and finishing second to World No.1 Viktor Axelsen in the
Malaysian Masters (May 21-26).
However, in the Thailand Open, Zii Jia suffered severe cramps during his quarter-final match against Denmark's world No. 4 Anders Antonsen.
The Singapore Open was to have been his third tournament in as many weeks. And the match against Anthony would have been his 11th in 14 days.
But two gruelling matches against the two great Danes, Antonsen and Axelsen in Bangkok and Thailand in the past two weeks have taken their toll on Zii Jia.
And now the former All England champion will need to recover and work himself back into shape to challenge for his self-declared target of an Olympic gold medal.
Meanwhile, newly crowned Malaysian Masters mixed doubles champions Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai defeated India's B. Sumeeth Reddy-Sikki Reddy 21-18, 21-19 in the Singapore Open first round.
But Soon Huat-Shevon have a mountain to climb in the next round - against world No. 1 Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong, The Malaysian duo have lost 11 times to the Chinese pair.
Mixed doubles Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing also won their first round, 21-14, 21-11, against Germans Jan Voelker-Isabel Lohau, and will face Dutch pair Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek next.
In men's doubles, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun reached the second round after beating Thailand's Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren 21-12, 21-11.
They will next face either Alexander Dunn-Adam Hall of Scotland or Danes Kim Astrup-Anders Rasmussen.
It was, however, the end of the road for Goh Jin Wei in the women's singles. She was beaten 22-20, 21-18 by Spain's Carolina Marin in the first round.