Winning the men’s singles bronze at Paris Olympics would have left Lee Zii Jia mentally and physically drained. Hence, skipping the Hong Kong Open next week was likely a wise decision.
Zii Jia participated in the Japan Open, a Super 750 event held from August 20-25 last month. He lost to France’s eventual champion Alex Lanier in the first round at 18-21, 13-21.
The result showed that the independent shuttler had insufficient time to prepare for the tournament. Zii Jia took to Instagram to share insights into his condition after the match.
Hong Kong Open (September 10-15) will feature the top five shuttlers competing for the Super 500 title. Leading the field are World No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China, Denmark’s two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen (No. 2), Jonatan Christie of Indonesia (No. 3), and China’s Li Shifeng (No. 5).
Hong Kong will serve as a warm-up before the top players head to Changzhou for the Super 1000 China Open from September 17-22. Zii Jia is also set to compete in the China Open.
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