Bali: Malaysia’s World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia who was previously plagued by a back injury he suffered at the HYLO Open one week ago in Germany, has decided to participate at the 2021 Indonesia Masters which is scheduled to kick off on Tuesday, Nov 15th.
The coaching director of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Wong Choong Hann said that Lee had recovered from his injury and was ready to start his action in Bali.
“Although Zii Jia previously suffered a little fatigue after going through five tournaments in a row in Europe but now he looks enthusiastic and is fully prepared mentally and physically,” said Wong.
“The injury suffered by Zii Jia was actually not serious and after resting for a few days and going through the recovery process, he is OK now and ready to play,” added Wong.
“He and his coach – Hendrawan have reached the consensus that he is all right to compete at the Indonesia Masters.”
“The busy competition schedule Zii Jia is going through now is part of a learning process for him. Not only this year but he will also face the same situation next year where the competition calendar will also be busy,” continued Wong.
“So, he has to learn how to use his energy wisely through various tournaments and how to recover from fatigue more effectively. This can be considered as one of the challenges for him to become a better player,” explained Wong.
From September until the end of October, Lee had participated in five consecutive tournaments, starting with the Sudirman Cup in Finland, the Thomas Cup in Denmark, the Denmark Open, the French Open, and the HYLO Open in Germany.
The world number seven missed the chance to win his second title of 2021 a week ago when he had to withdraw from the HYLO Open final against Loh Kean Yew of Singapore after suffering a back injury.
After the Indonesian Masters, Lee will play at the Indonesia Open and also in the BWF World Tour Finals where all these tournaments are taking place in Bali.
Lee was seeded seventh at the Indonesia Masters and will open against World No. 13 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark on Tuesday. If he could make the quarter-finals, he is very likely to set up a mouth-watering clash with World No. 1 Kento Momota of Japan on Friday.
