Bali: Playing his first match since retiring in the first round of the 2021 Indonesia Masters last week when trailing 9-11 in the first set against World No. 13 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark, Malaysia’s World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia went down to the same player from Denmark again on Tuesday in the first round of Indonesia Open, losing 21-13, 23-25, 16-21 in 67 minutes.
Malaysia’s men’s singles head coach, Hendrawan, however, said Tuesday’s defeat had nothing to do with the injury suffered by the 23-year-old as he had fully recovered.
“We have to admit that Gemke played better today. Most importantly there were no back injuries, everything was okay,” said Hendrawan.
“We will try again to do our best when we play in the BWF World Tour Finals next week,” added Hendrawan.
Lee picked up the back injury during the final of the HYLO Open in Germany on Nov 7, which saw him withdraw when trailing 12-17 in the third set against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew.
In the men’s doubles competition, Malaysia’s World No. 6 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik exacted revenge for their 2021 Swiss Open semi-final defeat to Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel by overcoming the German pair 25-23, 21-12 on Tuesday.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalists will face compatriots, Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin for a ticket to the quarter-finals on Thursday.
World No. 12 Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin advanced after beating compatriots Tan Kian Meng/Tan Wee Kiong 21-11, 21-11 in the first round.
The win also ensured a top-eight spot for Teo/Ong in next month’s BWF World Tour Finals.
Other Malaysian men’s doubles pair, Nur Izzuddin Rumsani/Goh Sze Fei also confirmed their ticket to the Indonesia Open second round after beating French pair Christo Popov/Tomo Junior Popov 22-20, 21-10. However, they face a difficult path to the quarter-finals when they are scheduled to face Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin in the second round.
Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin advanced after beating Malaysia’s professional pair Goh V Shem/Low Juan Shen 21-14, 21-16.
In mixed doubles, No. 5 seeds Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia overcame Zachariah Josiahno Sumanti/Hediana Julimarbela of Indonesia 21-12, 21-17 to face Jones Ralfy Jansen/Linda Efler of Germany in the second round. Chan/Goh lost to Jansen/Efler in last Tuesday’s Indonesia Masters first round.
Also advancing in the mixed doubles were Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing, when they saw off compatriots, Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Lai Jemie 22-20, 21-17.
