Malaysia's journey at the 2025 Badminton Asia Championships has been hit hard, with a number of celebrities abandoning the tournament

Malaysia's badminton team suffered a heavy blow in their campaign at the Badminton Asia 2025 from 8-13 April, with Malaysia's Paris Olympic men's singles bronze medallist Lee Zi Jia and the Malaysian national badminton team's top mixed doubles pair, Tan Tang Kit and Du Yiwei, announcing their retirement.

Li Zijia has abandoned the Badminton Asia Championships from 8-13 April and is expected to retire due to a non-healing right ankle injury

According to the latest information on the official website of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the combination of Li Zijia and Jie Wei has officially withdrawn from the list, but the reason for their withdrawal is not yet clear. It is reported that the 2022 Asian Championships champion Li Zijia is expected to retire because of an unhealed right ankle injury. The current world No. 9 Li Zijia suffered a ligament injury in his right ankle in the group stage of the World Tour Finals in December last year, and did not return to action until the Orleans Badminton Super 300 and All England Badminton Super 1000 in March this year.

Li Zijia, who was originally ranked as the No. 7 seed at the Asian Championships, has announced that he will withdraw from this week's Swiss Badminton Super 300 due to injury after exiting the first round of the men's singles at the 2025 All England Championships to focus on the treatment of his ankle injury. The retirement of 26-year-old Lee Zi Jia also means that the Malaysian badminton team's rising men's singles star ranked 50th in the world, He Shouwei, who was originally an alternate player for this tournament, will qualify.

As for the Jie Wei pair, who were originally ranked as the No. 4 seeds in the mixed doubles at the Asian Championships, it is unclear whether they decided to withdraw due to internal problems, and after their loss in the first round of the All England Championships, there was news of discord after Du Yiwei deleted all social media posts, which also caused a lot of speculation about whether they would break up. After the Jie Wei duo withdraws, their seats will be replaced by the world No. 53 "Ye Zi Duo" Ye Ruiqing and Xiao Zixuan.

Chen Tangjie and Du Yiwei have abandoned the Badminton Asia Championships from April 8 to 13, but the reasons for their withdrawal are unclear

On the other hand, South Korea's new generation of football queen, An Se Ying, who has played all over the world this year, may miss the Asian Championships due to injury. Paris Olympic champion and world No. 1 Ahn Se Ying suffered a right thigh injury and first felt discomfort when she faced Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the All England semi-finals, according to South Korea's Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS). Despite this, An Xiying still persevered in the fight, and in the final, after a fierce 95-minute battle, she narrowly defeated China's Wang Zhiyi and successfully won the cup for the second time.

Ms. Ahn, 23, was initially thought to be a muscle spasm but was diagnosed with a torn muscle after an MRI scan on her return to South Korea and is expected to be out of action for about a month. However, at present, the official website of the BWF does not show that An Xiying has withdrawn.