KUALA LUMPUR: It was a bitter pill to swallow for national men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia as he lost to Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen in a hard fought semi-final at the Thailand Open in Bangkok today.
Playing in his first major tournament semi-final this year, Lee lost to world number three and third-seeded Chou 14-21, 20-22 in 45 minutes.
With the victory, 2018 Asian Games silver medallist Chou edged ahead to 3-2 in his head-to-head record against Lee.
The 21-year-old Lee was the only Malaysian to have entered the semi-finals.
Yesterday, women’s singles shuttler Soniia Cheah’s solid run was halted by world number four and top seed Chen Yu Fei of China, who beat her 21-15, 21-8 in 41 minutes in the quarter-finals.
It was followed by professional men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong’s exit at the same stage, losing to third seeds Li Jun Hui-Liu Yu Chen of China 16-21, 19-21.