Lee Zii Jia shockingly announced he will take a temporary break from the sport following a first-round defeat against Lakshya Sen at the Indonesia Open on Wednesday.

“I think for now I will temporarily quit badminton. I don’t know how long I will take, but I will quit badminton for a while, until I get the motivation again. I will take a break and rest for a while.

“Maybe I will stop playing tournaments – I don’t know for how long. It’s too much for me on court, I can’t concentrate 100 percent. It will be good for me to take a break. The priority for me is to find my passion on court.

“I did well at the Sudirman Cup, but I haven’t done much different after that,” Lee told the BWF official website.

Lee was listless in his 17-21, 13-21 defeat to Sen, losing after just 33 minutes.

In the first game, he did well until the 17th point, but conceded the final four points to his Indian opponent.

He was a shadow of himself in the second game and meekly surrendered.

Lee also lost the opener in Singapore Open last week, and fell in the Malaysia Masters second round last month.

Prior to that, the now world number 11 won all his matches at the Sudirman Cup.

With new coach Wong Tat Meng likely to come in after the Indonesia Open, his first key task would be to reignite the shuttler’s passion.

Meanwhile, other results on Wednesday saw Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing win their matches in straight games.

Chia-Soh next face either a Chinese Taipei or South Korean pair in the last eight, while Tan-Lai are up against Indonesia’s Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas.

Zii Jia mahu rehat dari dunia badminton? Sampai Bila?
Laporan penuh dalam Nadi Arena jam 7.00 malam ini di Saluran 801!#NadiArena #AstroArena pic.twitter.com/EGWYjfI3fm
— ASTRO ARENA (@ASTROARENA) June 14, 2023