Lee Zii Jia will return home from a forgettable European outing after he suffered a 16-21, 8-21 defeat to Anthony Ginting in the French Open first round on Tuesday.
The Malaysian men’s singles shuttler's 29-minute loss to the Indonesian was his second consecutive opening round exit, after he also fell to Chen Long at the Denmark Open.
This defeat means Lee might miss out on the BWF World Tour Finals, as he is now ranked ninth on the World Tour ranking.
Only the top eight shuttlers and pairs will feature at the showpiece US$1.5 million event in Guangzhou, China, in December.
The setback came after men’s singles coach Hendrawan said he would pay Lee more attention after his encouraging performances earlier this year.
"I had the same issue with Datuk Lee [Chong Wei]. I worked almost exclusively with him, as he was chasing the World Championships and Olympics at that time.
"Now Zii Jia has shown the most progress among the rest, so I would work with him more," said the Indonesian.
Hendrawan certainly has work to do with Lee, who is running out of tournaments to collect World Tour ranking points.
Men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong also crashed out in the first round after losing 21-11, 14-21, 16-21 to fourth seeds Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda.
Since winning the Chinese Taipei Open last month, Goh-Tan failed to sustain their form and could also be missing out on the World Tour Finals.
They are currently ranked eighth, but their early exit in France might see them slip outside the finals' qualification zone.
The Malaysian contingent are looking to redeem themselves at the French Open, after most of them became first and second round casualties at last week's Denmark Open
Only mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying made it to the quarter-finals in Denmark before crashing out.
The Malaysian men’s singles shuttler's 29-minute loss to the Indonesian was his second consecutive opening round exit, after he also fell to Chen Long at the Denmark Open.
This defeat means Lee might miss out on the BWF World Tour Finals, as he is now ranked ninth on the World Tour ranking.
Only the top eight shuttlers and pairs will feature at the showpiece US$1.5 million event in Guangzhou, China, in December.
The setback came after men’s singles coach Hendrawan said he would pay Lee more attention after his encouraging performances earlier this year.
"I had the same issue with Datuk Lee [Chong Wei]. I worked almost exclusively with him, as he was chasing the World Championships and Olympics at that time.
"Now Zii Jia has shown the most progress among the rest, so I would work with him more," said the Indonesian.
Hendrawan certainly has work to do with Lee, who is running out of tournaments to collect World Tour ranking points.
Men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong also crashed out in the first round after losing 21-11, 14-21, 16-21 to fourth seeds Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda.
Since winning the Chinese Taipei Open last month, Goh-Tan failed to sustain their form and could also be missing out on the World Tour Finals.
They are currently ranked eighth, but their early exit in France might see them slip outside the finals' qualification zone.
The Malaysian contingent are looking to redeem themselves at the French Open, after most of them became first and second round casualties at last week's Denmark Open
Only mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying made it to the quarter-finals in Denmark before crashing out.
