KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia attributed his shocking first-round exit at the China Open today to struggling with his "body condition".
In a bizarre match, the Malaysian world No. 3 led 8-0 against
Japan's world No. 15 Koki Watanabe in the first set before losing it.
Inexplicably, Zii Jia, 26, went from leading by a big margin in the first set to trailing 15-0 in the second before losing with a mind-boggling score of 21-2.
Zii Jia was left wondering what happened in the crazy 29 minutes at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou.
Zii Jia said that after last month's Paris Olympics, his body felt peculiar, and he does not know what the real problem is.
"My condition is not yet there, there's so much I need to keep working on to find my best condition.
"After the Olympics, my body condition is quite weird. I was suffering from a lot of injuries, and I don't know why. I just can't get 100 per cent recovery, but it's getting better.
"When I train with some intensity, I feel soreness everywhere. My elbow and knee feel sore and my back gets stiff.
"I need to solve these issues because I have to get back to 100 per cent condition to qualify for the World Tour Finals," said the Kedahan in a post-match interview with the BWF.
The Super 1000 China Open was Zii Jia's first tournament in almost a month after losing in the first round at the Japan Open last month.
He decided to skip the Korea and Hong Kong Opens, citing mental and physical exhaustion from his Paris Olympics campaign.
His next tournament will be the Arctic Open in Finland next month.
Meanwhile in
men's doubles, Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King advanced to the second round of the China Open after defeating Americans Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith 21-11, 21-12.
The world No. 41 Malaysian pair will face compatriots Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani next.