KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia has withdrawn from next week’s Swiss Open due to a recurring right ankle injury.
“Team LZJ can confirm that Zii Jia is withdrawing from the upcoming Swiss Open in Basel due to his right ankle injury,” Team LZJ said in a social media post today.
“Zi Jia will seek further treatment before any announcement is made on his tournament plans,” the statement said.
The world number eight Zii Jia first suffered the injury at the BWF World Tour Finals in December last year.
The 26-year-old professional returned to competition at the Orleans Masters last week and went on to play in the All England Championships, where he lost 16-21, 12-21 to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long in the first round yesterday.
But he yesterday admitted feeling only “about 50% recovered” when asked about his participation at next week’s Swiss Open in an interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“Maybe I was rushing to come back—maybe it was the wrong decision. But things have happened, so I have to accept it. This injury has taken much longer to recover than I expected,” Zii Jia said.
The Malaysian independent would have faced Angus again at Basel. – March 13, 2025