Kuala Lumpur: Indra Wijaya hoped Lee Zii Jia won’t get carried away by the form that has propelled him to win the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships and the 2022 Thailand Open. Instead, Wijaya would like Lee to put his head down and keep working hard.
The coach from Indonesia who started working as Lee’s coach in February 2022, told Malaysian media that there are still many challenges ahead of Lee in his young badminton career.
“Everyone is going to analyze Zii Jia’s playing style, and there will be no easy opponents anymore. Therefore, Zii Jia needs to remain humble and work hard in training to maintain his consistency,” said Wijaya.
“We are returning to Kuala Lumpur on Monday, and will take a break before getting ready for the Indonesia Open from June 14 to June 19,” added Wijaya.
On Sunday, Lee staged a remarkable comeback from 4-11 down in the decider of the 2022 Thailand Open men’s singles final to beat Li Shi Feng from China 17-21, 21-11, 23-21. The Thailand Open was Lee’s second consecutive title in 2022, after winning the Badminton Asia Championships in Manila on May 1, 2022. He is expected to break into the world’s top 5 when Badminton World Federation (BWF) publishes its latest world rankings on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Lee was also instrumental in helping Malaysia win the Asia Team Championships on Feb 20, 2022, by defeating Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia 14-21, 21-12, 21-10 in the final. He was undefeated in the 2022 Thomas Cup by overcoming Toby Penty of England 21-10, 21-15 and Kento Momota of Japan 21-17, 21-8 during the group stage and outlasted Lakshya Sen of India 23-21, 21-9 in the quarter-finals.
