Zii Jia concedes pressured without Chong Wei
KUALA LUMPUR: The absence of national badminton singles ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei who withdrew from the Malaysia Open results in pressure on national young player, Lee Zii Jia to exhibit his best at the championship at the Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil on April 2-7.
Nevertheless, the 20-year-old player was convinced that his experiences against several globally renowned players prior to this could help him absorb the pressure and achieve positive result at the championship which offered an overall cash price of US$700,000 (RM2.852 million)
‘’My experiences against several top world ranking players such as Viktor Axelsen and having beaten Chou Tien Chen prior to this, are useful experiences. I hope to maintain my rhythm on court,’’ said Zii Jia who was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) yesterday.
In the meantime, the Kedah native conceded that it was quite difficult to challenge Chong Wei’s achievement of winning the Malaysia Open championship 12 times but he believed it was possible if he worked hard like the national number one player.
Zii was scheduled to meet Thai player, Suppanyu Avihingsanon in the first round, and if he passed the obstacle, a difficult task would await him in the second round whether he would be facing former world and olympics champion, Lin Dan of China or Taiwan’s ace, Chou Tien Chen.
Another national representative in the men’s singles was professional player, Liew Daren who would be facing another Thai player, Kantaphon Wangcharoen in the first round.
Chong Wei was advised by his personal doctor to withdraw from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Level Three tournament to ensure his body would not be inappropriately stressed.
For the record, Chong Wei rested from badminton for eight months after receiving treatment for nose cancer in Taiwan.
The 36-year-old player was Malaysian Open champion in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018. - Bernama