Badminton

Zii Jia withdraws from Hylo Open

KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 2 Lee Zii Jia will not compete in the Hylo Open in Germany on Nov 1-6.

This was confirmed by Zii Jia's sister, Lee Zii Yii, who is also his manager. After more than six weeks since his first round exit at the Japan Open, Zii Jia, 24, showed signs of recovery when he reached the Super 750 Denmark Open final in Odense.

However, things quickly took a sharp turn when he suffered a shocking first-round exit on Wednesday at the French Open in Paris. While there is no telling if the Kedahan was affected by the death of his grandfather, Zii Jia was definitely a far cry from his best in the match against Indonesia's Shesar Hiren Rhustavito in the opening stage.

"Zii Jia will withdraw from the upcoming Hylo Open due to personal matters, which require him to return to Malaysia.

"Thanks for all the warm messages and concern. Hopefully he will come back soon in action," Zii Yii said in a WhatsApp message.

At the moment, the Asian champion is ranked No. 6 on the BWF World Tour ranking, and still looks good to qualify for the season-ending World Tour Finals in Guangzhou on Dec 14-18. Only the top eight players and pairs will qualify for the US$1.5 million event.

On whether Zii Jia will play in the Australia Open on Nov 15-20, Zii Yii said: "The visa application is quite complicated. We are trying. We also need to see his condition."

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