KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia was braced for the Thai-phoon today, but he just couldn't withstand it, and in the end, Malaysia's last remaining hope for an Olympic badminton gold in Paris was blown away.
Thailand's World champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn was just too good, brushing aside Zii Jia 21-14, 21-15. Perhaps, Kunlavut had the psychological edge over Zii Jia, having trumped the latter 21-16, 21-17 in their last meeting, the Indonesia Open quarter-final in June.
Before today's clash, Zii Jia and Kunlavut had a 4-4 head-to-head record, and thus a close match was expected. But as the action unfolded, there was little doubt that the Thai was going to win.
It ended in disappointment for Malaysia. Zii Jia came to Paris as an independent player, but with the whole nation depending on him for the men's singles gold.
Former all England champion and seventh seed Zii Jia had earlier said ambitiously that his target in Paris was the gold medal. However, this has turned out to be another failed mission.
Zii Jia fell in the last four, but it was still an improvement to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 where he was eliminated in the last 16.
Zii Jia, 26, will still get to fight for an Olympic medal tomorrow, when he faces India's Lakshya Sen in the bronze medal playoff.
Today, Zii Jia did not have an answer to world No. 8 Kunlavut's fiery pace, and went down in 50 minutes at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena.
"I do feel some regret (not winning the semi-final). I've come this far... just one more step to get to the final. But I still have a chance to win a bronze medal, so I mean let's focus on this match.
"Kunlavut played a really good match, I can feel that his confidence and form is at the very top level.
"I was trying different strategies to get points from him but it didn't work. I'm quite disappointed I could not get into the final," Zii Jia told BWF.
Though Zii Jia dumped world No. 3 Anders Antonsen from Denmark in convincing fashion in the quarter-final, he couldn't replicate that form against Kunlavut.
"The pressure is high at the Olympic Games, and mentally everyone is very tense.
"Kunlavut handled everything very well today and I have to accept this defeat," added the Kedahan.