SHAH ALAM – After a short training stint in South Korea, independent men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia stepped up in Malaysia’s second group match at the Badminton Asia Team Championships against Kazakhstan, winning his game with ease today.
The 25-year-old, who was not fielded by national badminton coaching director Rexy Mainaky in the opening group match against Brunei yesterday, approached this match as a warm-up, as he will be potentially fielded in the starting line-up against a formidable Chinese Taipei side tomorrow.
The 10th-ranked Zii Jia was shaky at first before displaying a skilful performance to topple Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Panarin 21-11, 21-10 in 32 minutes at the Setia City Convention Centre.
“It was a really good game, and it’s not that my opponent can’t play, as he had some really good skills. He can run throughout the court and gave me a really good fight throughout the match,” said Zii Jia after the match.
“To be honest, I don’t have any secret weapon after training in South Korea as I trained there for only 10 days, and people can’t expect a sudden change in my gameplay in just a short span of time.
“However, my trip to South Korea was great, and it was a good opportunity for me to learn something new about their culture and also their training routine.
“There were a lot of training varieties in South Korea, and they treated me really well. There were also six to eight players from different countries who trained there,” the former All England winner added.
His momentum continued to the second men’s singles shuttler, Leong Jun Hao, as he maintained a winning streak in the tournament by crushing world number 626 Ibray Bayken 21-8, 21-11 in 25 minutes.
The third men’s singles match saw 19-year-old Eogene Ewe Eon contribute the third point for the national team after defeating Makhsut Tajibullayev 21-7, 21-9 in 25 minutes.
Buoyed by a convincing start from their opening group fixture, Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri had no problem extending the lead for Malaysia by defeating Ratmir Gilmanov-Ibray Bayken 21-10, 21-9 for a straight-sets win.
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin attributed their teammates’ victories and the presence of Malaysian fans for boosting their morale as they clinched the winning point by thrashing Khaitmurat Kulmatov-Makhsut Tajibullayev 21-6, 21-2 in a brief 17-minute match.
Malaysia’s men’s team’s qualification to the quarter-finals is certain with today’s win.
They will take on Chinese Taipei, who defeated Brunei 5-0 in another group tie, in their final group-stage match tomorrow.
The top-four teams will also earn automatic qualification to the Thomas Cup finals in China from April 28 to May 5. – February 14, 2024