Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s World No. 7 men’s singles player – Lee Zii Jia looked to make his presence felt at the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) that will be held at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex, Muntinlupa in the Philippines from 26 April to 1 May 2022.
The tournament offered ranking points equivalent to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 event, and also offered total prize money of $400,000.
Speaking to Malaysian media, Lee said BAC would be a good warm-up tournament leading to the 2022 Thomas Cup Finals which will take place in Bangkok, from May 8 to May 15.
“This would be my first BAC, and I am hoping to produce good results as this could be considered a Super 1000 event,” said Lee.
“I am going to make the best preparations and will fight hard in every match,” added Lee.
Lee will open against World No. 54 Sun Fei Xiang of China in the first round.
In addition to Lee, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) also sent 3 other men’s singles players to BAC, including Daren Liew, Ng Tze Yong, and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin.
Meanwhile, Lee also gave his explanation about missing the Thomas Cup training camp for two days (Wednesday, and Thursday).
“I needed to take care of some personal matters and I have applied for a leave of absence from BAM. So, I don’t think this is a big issue let alone I came back to train with the team today,” explained Lee.
In the history of BAC, there was a total of five Malaysian players who had emerged as champion – including Lee Chong Wei (2006, 2016), Foo Kok Keong (1994), Rashid Sidek (1991, 1992), Tan Aik Mong (1971) and Teh Kew San (1962).
