KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia's first-round jinx continued at the Japan Open today.
The World No 18 lost 20-22, 21-17, 21-19 to Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in Tokyo.
Though Zii Jia won the hard-fought first set, defending champion Nishimoto stamped his superiority eventually.
The Malaysian had failed to get past the first round in his last three tournaments: Korea Open, Indonesia Open and the Singapore Open.