No tango in Paris as Zii Jia crashes out in first round.
Ginting cuts Zii Jia down to size in French Open opener
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s No. 1 singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia suffered one of his heaviest defeats of the season at the French Open.
The world No. 14 was outclassed 16-21, 8-21 by Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting in just 29 minutes on the opening round at the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium in Paris yesterday.
It was the second time this year that Zii Jia had lost a match in under 30 minutes. At the Swiss Open in March, he was disposed of quickly by another Indonesian, Jonatan Christie, in the first round.
The defeat saw Zii Jia ending his European stint without a win.
He was also booted out by Chen Long in the first round of the Denmark Open last week.
Zii Jia admitted he was no match against the world No. 8 Indonesian, whom he met for the first time.
“He outplayed me. In terms of experience and ability, he definitely has the edge,” said Zii Jia.
“I knew from the start he’s tough to beat. He has defeated (Kento) Momota a couple of times, so there must be something special about him.
“Not the results I wanted in the last two weeks, but I still need to keep going.
“I’ll have a few days to train and fine-tune my game when I get back to Malaysia, hopefully I’ll return stronger in China (Fuzhou China Open).”
Coach Hendrawan said Anthony was a class above his charge in every aspect of the game.
“From attacking prowess right to the speed, Ginting is just way better than Zii Jia,” said Hendrawan.
“This is the first time Zii Jia is meeting Ginting, so he was finding it hard to deal with his opponent’s play. He tried everything he could, a change of strategy, nothing worked.”
In men’s doubles, Goh V ShemTan Wee Kiong also failed to clear their first hurdle.
The world No. 10 lost 21-11, 14-21, 16-21 to Japan’s Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda.