Zii Jia on track to qualify for Tokyo Olympics — BAM chief
KUALA LUMPUR: National badminton player Lee Zii Jia is on track to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan based on his current performance.
Badminton Association of Malaysia ( BAM) president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said the 20-year- old has the potential to be in action with national badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei in the Olympics.
“The Olympic qualification will start from May 1 next year and, if we could, we would want to place two to three players in each event for Olympics.
“I feel one of them is Zii Jia. We could have Chong Wei and Zii Jia and BAM is looking for another player to mount Malaysia’s challenge.
“I have also discussed with national singles chief coach Datuk Misbun Sidek after the Korea Masters World Tour Super 300 on Zii Jia and as I said he is a potential player but we need to plan well to realise the objective,” he told the media after a presentation of contribution by Bank Rakyat to BAM yesterday.
Zii Jia, who has been touted as a candidate to replace Chong Wei, earned his first championship this season after clinching the Taiwan Open on Oct 7.
Nonetheless, Zia Jia’s attempt to bag his second title was thwarted when he lost to Son Wan Ho in the Korean Masters final on Sunday.
Earlier at the ceremony, BAM received a Scania bus from Bank Rakyat to facilitate BAM ferry players from Bukit Jalil Sports School to Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara as well as for other act ivit ies. — Bernama