Second seed Zii Jia was forced to step down from the game after falling down 12-17, handing the victory to Singapore‘s unseeded Loh Kean Yew in a match that lasted over 64 minutes in the Saarlandhalle Saarbrucken indoor stadium.
Zii Jia, the world’s eighth-ranked player, began confidently, leading Kean Yew 11-7, but a string of mishaps enabled the Singaporean to take point after point and close the difference to 19-18.
The game was delayed for around seven minutes at 20-18 when Kean Yew sustained a laceration to his right knuckle and was required to seek medical attention courtside.
The Malaysian shuttler subsequently recovered his calm, winning the first set 21-19.
The hand injury, however, did not dampen the world number 39 player’s enthusiasm, as he staged an incredible comeback, winning the following set 21-13 and forcing the game into a rubber set.
The decisive game was another nail-biting match, particularly in the early stages, when both shuttlers battled neck and neck to tie the game at 10-10.
However, Zii Jia’s back injury soon took its toll, allowing Kean Yew to increase the gap to 17-12 and ultimately record a career-defining moment when the Malaysian was unable to finish the game and retired.
Kean Yew extended his undefeated record against Zii Jia to seven matches with last week’s thrilling 24-22, 21-14 victory in the first round of the French Open.
Meanwhile, Zii Jia’s loss extends his championship drought to eight months, having defeated Denmark’s Victor Axelsen 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 last March at the All England Badminton Championships 2021 in Birmingham, England.
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