KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — It is still tough for Lee Zii Jia to overcome world number one and defending champion, Kento Momota of Japan at the 2019 Badminton World Championships in Basel, Switzerland.

With the defeat, Malaysia had ended their journey in the world championship.

In the quarter finals clash at the St Jakobshalle Indoor Arena today, the Kedah-born shuttler fought neck-and-neck with Momota all the way until the latter took the lead with 11-10.

But the unlucky Zii Jia kept on making several errors allowing Momota to seal the first set in 21-12.

Back on court for the second set, the number 13 in the world was struggling to gain points which enabled Momota to lead 11-4, before the Japanese sealed the match unbeaten with 21-8.

Despite ending his journey in the world meet, the 21-year-old player had already made history when he stormed into the quarter finals in his world meet debut.

“It is a good experience for me ending in the quarter finals in my first world championship. I still have a long way to go, and the quarter final is not a good result for me,” he said.

Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying react during their mixed doubles quarter-final match against Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino during the 2019 BWF Badminton World Championships in Basel August 23, 2019. — AFP pic
Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying react during their mixed doubles quarter-final match against Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino during the 2019 BWF Badminton World Championships in Basel August 23, 2019. — AFP pic

Becoming a household name in Malaysian badminton especially after the retirement of Datuk Lee Chong Wei in June, Zii Jia admitted that he was not really satisfied with his current performance.

“I am not satisfied with my performance yet, I want more than that. But what I have learned at here in Switzerland, is a good experience for me, enabling me to see clearly where I must improve. I will go back and train harder,” he added.

After the world meet, Zii Jia would be participating in the Taiwan Open, from September 3 to 8.

Earlier, independent pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying also failed to progress into the semi-finals after they lost to third seed Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan with 21-18, 12-21, 11-21.

The world’s fifth ranking pair, who sealed the first set with 21-18, however failed to stay consistent in the second set enabling the Japanese to win 21-12.

Still determined for a semi-finals berth, the Malaysian pair tried hard to bounce back in the third set but bowed out to the world number three with 11-21. — Bernama