Zii Jia needs to believe in himself – Hendrawan
KUALA LUMPUR: Following the disappointing outings at two Thailand Open tournaments recently, national top men’s singles player, Lee Zii Jia has to focus on building his self-confidence for the coming BWF World Tour Finals starting at Impact Arena, Bangkok today.
National men’s singles coach Hendrawan said the world’s number 10 player has wavered in believing in himself and displayed below par performance at the Yonex Thailand Open and Toyota Thailand Open.
“Preparations for the World Tour Finals will focus more on tactics and strategies as well as boosting his confidence.
“So we hope he will give his best and fight to the end in the tournament (BWF World Tour Finals), said the coach from Indonesia.
In the BWF World Tour Finals which will go on until Sunday, the 22-year-old ace from Kedah is expect to meet top players in the world.
Zii Jia was drawn in Group A with world number two Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan, world number sixth Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Indonesia) and former world champion, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark who recently secured back-to-back the Yonex Thailand Open and Toyota Thailand Open titles.
Based on the tournament format, the top two shuttlers in the group will qualify for the semi-finals.
In the Yonex Thailand Open, Zii Jia lost 17-21, 15-21 to Tien Chen in the quarter-finals two weeks ago.
This was followed by a 21-18, 25-27 and 19-21 defeat to India’s Sameer Verma in the first round at the Toyota Thailand Open last week.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles chief coach, Paulus Firman is putting a semi-final target for mixed doubles pair of Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai in the tournament.
He said he was unhappy with the performance of the pair despite showing improvement in their defeats to top seeds and even eventual champions, Dechapol Pu a var a nu kr oh Sap sire eT aeratt ana ch ai of Thailand in the second round of Yonex Thailand Open and Toyota Thailand Open.
“For several days, I concentrated on building their strength through communication, overcoming opponents and keeping their focus,” he said.
As the sole flag bearer for the country in mixed doubles, Goh-Shevon were drawn in Group B with world number eight, Hafiz FaizalGloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia, Mark LamsfussIsabel Herttrich (Germany) and Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (France).