Lee Zii Jia looks to have suffered yet another injury blow after the men’s singles shuttler was forced to retire in his opening match at the China Masters on Wednesday.

Lee was trailing 6-14 in the deciding game against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-yi, when he signaled to the umpire of an apparent injury.

After a brief discussion with the medical team, the shuttler withdrew from the match.

It marked a bitter end to Lee’s campaign in China, where he was on course to win his first match in six months after winning the first game 21-17 and holding match point with a 20-19 lead in the second game.

But Lin battled back to win 23-21 to force the deciding game, and in the third game Lee wasn’t moving as smoothly before he decided to retire.

The Malaysian had only recently returned to action at the World Championships last month, after nursing a right ankle injury for almost five months prior.

Leong Jun Hao kept the men’s singles interest alive after he brushed aside Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting 21-19, 5-21, 21-10 to move into the second round.

After winning a nail-biting first game, Ginting stormed back to level the scores in the second.

But Leong, who had lost in the deciding game in his previous two tournaments, comprehensively won this time to set-up another meeting against Li Shi Feng.

Leong had narrowly lost against the Hong Kong Open champion last week.

In the mixed doubles, reigning world champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei comfortably beat their American opponents in straight games 21-12, 21-14.

The third seeds will face an Indonesian pair in the second round.