Lee Zii Jia fought bravely despite being unwell and put up a valiant effort against Kodai Naraoka before bowing out in three games at the Hylo Open on Thursday.

World No. 42 Lee had a nightmare start to his Hylo Open campaign after falling ill with a stomach bug and vomiting so badly that he had to be rushed to hospital. But he soldiered on and beat Jason Teh of Singapore before facing Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the second round on Thursday.

And despite battling exhaustion and a fever, Lee gave Naraoka all he could handle and dominated the opening game before Naraoka's fightback. In the end though, it was Naraoka who came through in 63 minutes with an 11-21, 21-13, 21-14 win at the Saarbrucken indoor stadium.

Lee will be pleased with the way he battled despite feeling under the weather and it’s no surprise that he’ll be looking forward to getting back on court again as soon as possible. He’ll get his chance at the Syed Modi International in Lucknow next month after announcing that he’ll sit out next week’s Korea Open in Yeosu City to allow his body to recover.

Lee paid tribute to his opponent after Thursday’s match, saying on social media that it was “always a battle against Kodai san.” The win gives Naraoka the lead over Lee in their head-to-head meetings at 4-3. Lee also gave a shout-out to K-pop superstar IU for giving him inspiration to keep fighting.

Written by

Lakshya