Zii Jia, June Wei bundled out of US Open in 2nd round

 Lee Zii Jia lost to India’s Srikanth Kidambi while Cheam June Wei fell to Israeli shuttler Misha Zilberman.

Lee Zii Jia has struggled to make a comeback since his return to competitive badminton in January after a seven-month layoff. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

National men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia suffered another early exit since his return to competitive badminton in January, losing in the second round of the US Open to India’s Srikanth Kidambi.

After a positive performance in the opening round on Wednesday, where he beat a Vietnamese player, the Olympic bronze medalist went down 14-21, 13-21 in 30 minutes and was seen struggling to keep pace with Srikanth.

The head-to-head score between the two players now stands at 6-3 in Zii Jia’s favour. This is their first encounter since the Malaysian shuttler’s layoff last year.

The former world No 2, whose ranking has dropped drastically after the seven-month layoff due to an ankle injury, has only managed two quarter-final appearances in the last 10 Badminton World Federation World Tour championships.

He was knocked out in the first round in five tournaments and reached the last 16 in three championships this year. Zii Jia’s next tournament is the Canada Open which begins next Tuesday.

In another men’s singles match played earlier, Israeli shuttler Misha Zilberman defeated Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei, 21-15, 21-19 in 36 minutes in a last- match.

Lee and Cheam are the only two entrants from Malaysia at the US Open being played at California State University Fullerton. - FMT