KUALA LUMPUR: National No. 1 Lee Zii Jia bowed out of the World Tour Finals on a whimper after falling to a tame defeat to World No. 4 Viktor Axelsen.
The World No. 10 needed a strong win in order to keep his hopes alive after losing his opening match to World No. 2 Chou Tien Chen in Group A.
But things just did not go as planned for Zii Jia as he failed to get into his stride, losing 21-15, 21-4, at the Impact Arena in Bangkok on Thursday.
"I have to be honest, it was really a bad performance today. I was still trying to find my best form during the match," admitted Zii Jia.
"Right now, I think Axelsen is unbeatable, and he's really a tough opponent.
"I went into the game expecting a tough game and gave it what I could, but it was still not good enough."
Zii Jia now only has pride to play for when he takes on World No. 6 Anthony Ginting of Indonesia in his final group game on Friday.
In the mixed doubles, World No. 12 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie were left kicking themselves after blowing a good opportunity to seal their semi-final spot.
Soon Huat-Shevon just couldn't bring their A game as they lost 21-17, 21-9 to France's World No. 15 Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue in Group B.
The defeat leaves the pair in second spot in the group, and they now need a win against Indonesia's Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in their last group match on Friday.
"Honestly, I'm really disappointed with my performance today," said Shevon.
"I think we made too many mistakes, and I wasn't well prepared mentally and physically."