Mulheim: Thursday was surely an emotional roller coaster ride day for World No. 4 Lee Zii Jia. Early that day, in conjunction with VICTOR’s 55th anniversary, his picture was featured on the billboard in New York Times Square along with other players sponsored by VICTOR, including:
* Tai Tzu Ying
* Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan
* Anders Antonsen
* Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti
However, a few hours after the news related to the billboard in New York was published, Lee was leaving 2023 German Open early after a stunning loss to a World No. 49 player – Lee Chia Hao of Taiwan 21-15, 20-22, 21-23 in the second round.
Highlights of Lee Zii Jia vs. Lee Chia Hao in the German Open second round:
Perhaps No. 1 seed Lee Zii Jia didn’t see this coming and posted an Instagram story below after the defeat to express his frustration.
Let’s face it, the expectations weighing on Lee are just too high, it’s clear he wanted to perform well at tournaments and placed too much pressure on himself. The most important thing is, he tried. Losses are just part of the game, everyone should give him room to grow. He is a gifted player and can bounce back quickly with proper coaching. Hopefully, he could find someone to guide him out of his slump quickly. Best of luck to him.
Coincidentally, also seeded top, and also from the same country, the men’s doubles No. 1 seeds Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia crashed out of the men’s doubles second round when the World No. 2 Malaysians lost to World No. 25 Akira Koga/Taichi Saito of Japan 13-21, 18-21.
Japan’s former men’s singles World No. 1 Kento Momota continued to do well by beating World No. 29 Brian Yang of Canada 21-16, 21-10 to play compatriot Kenta Nishimoto in the quarter-finals. Nishimoto defeated Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 21-17, 13-21, 21-19 on Thursday.
Despite disappointments in the men’s singles and men’s doubles categories, Malaysia’s women’s doubles World No. 6 Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan advanced by beating Julie Macpherson/Ciara Torrance of Scotland 21-18, 21-15. They are set to play World No. 11 Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara of Japan in the final 8.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s World No. 43 mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei pulled off an upset to down World No. 10 Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung of Korea 21-11, 24-22 to play World No. 14 Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun of Korea next. Kim/Jeong overcame No. 1 seeds Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-15, 21-16 in the second round.
