KUALA LUMPUR — National professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia has shown vast improvement in his game at the ongoing 2023 World Badminton Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, despite being unable to get past the third round.
That was the honest assessment from former national men’s singles shuttler, Datuk James Selvaraj on the Malaysian ace at the world meet.
Selvaraj said he was impressed by Zii Jia’s approach towards each match in the tournament held at the Royal Arena.
He said the current world number 13 was playing with more confidence now as compared to a series of dismal performances over the past few months.
“He is improving game by game now and his stroke was much better. It is important for Zii Jia to regain his confidence.
“In previous competitions he seemed to have lost his confidence, resulting in first or second-round exits.
“To become a great player, you must always be confident. If you don’t have confidence, how to become a champion?” he said.
However, Selvaraj was puzzled by Zii Jia’s loss to Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the third round of the world meet as the Malaysian displayed a high level of performance compared to the Dane before falling short in straight sets 18-21, 17-21.
The former coach also said that the question now hinges on the Kedahan himself, to determine how long he can cope with the situation without clinching a title and until he is raring again to rock the court.
“I hope he will keep improving himself and discuss with his coach on things that he needs to change,” he said.
Zii Jia is now coached by Wong Tat Meng, who is serving as the Team LZJ coaching director.
The last time Zii Jia won a title was in May 2022 when he overcame China’s Li Shi Feng, 17-21, 21-11, 23-21 to be crowned as the Thailand Open champion in Bangkok.
In the 2023 World Championships, the unseeded shuttler pulled off a pleasant surprise by sweeping aside Indonesian star, fifth-seeded Jonatan Christie in straight sets, 21-13, 21-15 in the opening round and continued his fine performance by seeing off Canadian Brian Yang, 21-11, 21-16 in the second round.
Zii Jia had endured a poor run leading up to the World Championships, including being shown the early exit four times but managed to break that spell of losses momentarily by reaching the semi-final of the Australian Open 2003 in early August, losing 19-21, 21-13, 13-21 at the hands of China’s Weng Hong Yang.
Selvaraj also heaped praise on national player, Ng Tze Yong, who showed some positive signs in the world meet and who has since grown to become a much better player now.
Tze Yong kicked off his campaign by creating an upset by ousting the previous edition’s bronze medallist, China’s Zhao Jun Peng, 21-19, 26-24 to check into the second round of the world meet.
The Johor-born player’s journey was then cut short after he went down fighting to Antonsen, 22-24, 16-21, in the second round. — August 25, 2023