ZII JIA ‘NO SHOW’ AT VACCINATION EVENT
All England champ falls sick after attending many functions
BAM are not too worried over All England champion Lee Zii Jia’s failure to show up at yesterday’s national vaccination event after he fell ill.
BAM are working closely with the National Sports Council (NSC) to secure Zii Jia a new date next week for him to receive his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
BAM coaching director, Wong Choong Hann said it was unfortunate for Zii Jia to fall sick just before receiving his jab.
“I don’t think there is a need to push the panic button. Zii Jia was not feeling too well and was advised by the doctor not to receive his jab yet.
“Of course, we try to keep our players at their best but sometimes you can’t control these kinds of situations.
“Players will fall sick sometimes and it is normal.
“What I can assure is that our training programme has kickstarted in the last two weeks and we are moving forward.
“As for Zii Jia, we are working with NSC to help him get his first dose of the vaccine next week,” Choong Hann said.
Yesterday, a total of 264 athletes and officials received their first dose of the vaccine at the Desa Tasik Sports Complex Hall in Cheras.
Questions, however, were raised after Zii Jia — who has been in the spotlight following his recent All England triumph — did not show up.
Men’s singles head coach, Hendrawan was quoted as saying the 23-year-old Zii Jia had been ill for the past two days, most probably due to fatigue after taking part in many (celebratory) functions since his triumphant return from Birmingham last month.
“His (Zii Jia) preparation isn’t affected, just that he may be tired or hasn’t had enough rest because he has had to attend so many functions since returning from the All England.
“We hope he will be fine,” said Hendrawan.
Zii Jia, along with the rest of the Malaysian shuttlers, are in their final lap of the Olympic preparation.
The India Open on May 11-16, an important Olympic qualifying event for some of the Malaysian shuttlers, will be their next assignment.