PROFESSIONAL men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia is confirmed to have suffered a right ankle ligament injury.
The injury forced the world number eight to withdraw from his final Group A match against China’s Li Shi Feng in the 2024 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, on Friday (Dec 13).
A statement from his teamlzj today said, however, the extent of the injury “is manageable”.
“The team’s priority is to get Zii Jia back to full health and peak physical condition before he returns to the court.
“Thus, Zii Jia’s training programme and tournament plan for the upcoming season will be based on close examination of the team and medical advice,” it said.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games bronze medallist was leading 15-11 in the second game against Shi Feng when he had to retire, with the injury believed to have occurred when the score was 13-5.
Zii Jia, who had taken the first game 22-20, was not allowed immediate treatment by the tournament officials before the second game was eventually stopped and he was taken off the court in a wheelchair.
According to the new BWF rules, players are not allowed medical treatment during the game and must wait until the break.
The BWF rules also state that all results are nullified if a player concedes a walkover.
Zii Jia had won his two earlier Group A matches, defeating Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen 21-13, 21-15 and Denmark’s world number two Anders Antonsen 21-14, 21-19.
