Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s World No. 11 men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia has been trying to find his rhythm after struggling in the three back-to-back tournaments in Bangkok, January of 2021.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Wong Choong Hann told Malaysian media that he was pleased with the determination shown by Lee during training ahead of the Swiss Open and All England that will take place in Europe next month.
“We are doing our best to restore his performance, enhancing his mental toughness, and put disappointments in Thailand behind. We want to make sure he can focus on next month’s Swiss Open and All England Championships,” said Wong.
“He has shown a strong spirit in his training and I am very happy to see how he works to overcome all difficulties,” added Wong.
At the Yonex Thailand Open, Lee lost to second seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan in the quarterfinals, before being knocked out in the first round by Sameer Verma of India in the Toyota Thailand Open that took place after the Yonex Thailand Open.
Lee’s continued to struggle when he lost in all three men’s singles Group A matches at the BWF World Tour Finals, also in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, Lee was seeded second at the Swiss Open that will take place in Basel, Switzerland, from March 2, 2021, to March 7, 2021. He will start his campaign against South Korean Heo Kwang Hee and could face No. 3 seed Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in semi-finals before setting up a possible final clash with Denmark’s No. 1 seed Viktor Axelsen.
Wong did not want to put too much pressure on Lee and hoped the 22-year-old could give his best in Europe. Wong was also confident that Malaysia’s World No. 10 women’s doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan/Lee Meng Yean would perform well in the Swiss Open based on their great performance at the BWF World Tour finals in Thailand last month.
“I believe they look stronger in training and gain a lot of self-confidence after advancing to the semi-finals before losing to the South Korean pair in the BWF World Tour finals,” continued Wong.
