The 21-year-old’s joy of overcoming reigning Olympic champion Chen Long of China was short-lived as he was brought back down to earth a day after by Denmark’s Anders Antonsen.
The world No. 16 went down tamely 16-21, 11-21 in 49 minutes at the Istora Senayan on Friday, ending his hopes of making his first semi-final appearance this season.“I tried my best but my body couldn’t recover from the tough match,” said Zii Jia.Antonsen, the world No. 11, was certainly the fresher player.
The Dane was well-rested after spending just 12 minutes on the court in his second-round encounter against second seed Shi Yuqi.Zii Jia knew he had blown his best chance to add a second World Tour title to the Taiwan Open victory last year, as favourites such as Japan’s Kento Momota was already booted out in Jakarta.Zii Jia will now look to make amends at the Japan Open which begins on Tuesday.