DON’T PUT ZII JIA IN ‘PRESSURE COOKER’
BAM chief responding to fans who expect shuttler to win Olympic gold
THE Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will not put unnecessary pressure on Lee Zii Jia to deliver gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 23-year-old has fired up the expectations of fans last month by unexpectedly winning the All England men’s singles title.
What was more impressive and significant about the Kedahan’s All England success were his conquests World No 1 Kento Momota of Japan and World No 2 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the championships at Birmingham.
And logically, Malaysian fans feel that the World No 8 is capable of delivering the country its first ever Olympic gold medal.
However, BAM president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria yesterday stressed that their plan has always been for Zii Jia to deliver at the 2024 Olympics.
So, Norza is playing down the talk of Malaysia gunning for gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
“From the start, we have been targeting the 2024 Olympics instead of this year’s Tokyo Olympics,” said Norza.
“But players like Zii Jia will have their own aspirations and expectations when they get to the Olympics.
“It will, however, be good for us to give him the full support he deserves and believe in him because the result will eventually come.
“For now, it is a bit premature to be putting unnecessary pressure on him because at the end of the day, this is a marathon and not a sprint.”
BAM launched their “Wall of Champions” at the Academy Badminton of Malaysia yesterday to commemorate the feats of Zii Jia and women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah.
The fast improving Pearly-Thinaah kept the Malaysian flag flying high at the Swiss Open by bagging the women’s doubles title and reaching the All England quarter-finals.
“The launch of this ‘Wall of Champions’ is aimed to celebrate the world tour wins of our players,” said Norza.
“It is my hope that there will be more champions produced at the ABM that we can place on the wall.
“This is also a move that is aimed to spur confidence and motivation as well as to encourage humility so that players can produce the much-needed consistency,” added Norza.
Besides having their names and pictures framed up on the wall, Zii Jia and Pearly-Thinaah also received a monetary bonus from BAM.
For his All England feat, Zii Jia received RM30,000 while Pearly-Thinaah pocketed RM15,000.