Zii Jia faced his toughest test in the competition so far and it showed as he was stretched to three games before succumbing 21-8, 19-21, 5-21 in 70 minutes.

An early injury also played its part as he had to receive treatment – once during the first game, and then again before the start of the second – after hurting his right hand early in the match.

The reigning All England champion has now been beaten thrice by Chen Long, who holds a 3-2 lead in their head-to-head encounters.

“I think I was good in the opening game. Things were going well. There was a strategy change at Chen’s end. He was more patient and I think that worked for him. He didn’t make any mistakes,” Zii Jia told the Badminton World Federation.

“In the second game I was making a lot of mistakes, so I think there’s a still a long journey for me.”