Lee Zii Jia’s hopes of becoming the country’s first-ever world champion went up in smoke after the Malaysian was upstaged 19-21, 21-11, 19-21 by Zhao Jun Peng in the third round of the 2022 BWF World Championships.

The first game was a tight affair until the final stretch as Lee lost his grip to trail 16-20.

The Malaysian did well to claw back three points, but Zhao finished off with a smash for the lead.

Lee recovered admirably in the second, packing more punches in his shots to derail the Chinese.

He produced several cross-court kills that were so powerful he didn’t have to lift the ground to find the points to level matters.

The third game went like the first, with both shuttlers trading points until Zhao pulled away in the end.

Lee tried to mount a comeback, but it proved too little too late.

Only Lee Chong Wei came closest to winning when he finished as runner-up in the 2011, 2013 and 2015 editions.

But Malaysia still have three pairs in contention as Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik all made it through to the quarter-finals.

In the mixed doubles, Goh-Lai did well to beat French seventh seeds Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue 21-16, 21-4, and face Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino for a place in the semis.

Tan-Lai were also comfortable in their 21-12, 21-14 victory over Japan’s Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya, and take on China’s top seeds Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong next, while national men’s doubles pair Chia-Soh meanwhile beat Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin 21-17, 21-19.

Besides Lee, two women’s doubles pairs also saw their challenges come to an end.

Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah went down 16-21, 16-21 against Japan’s Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida, while Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien lost 13-21, 16-21 against third seeds Lee So-hee-Shin Seung-chan.