No award, no problem as Zii Jia aims for better year
KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Lee Zii Jia did not win the Eddy Choong award but he will not lose sleep over it.
The 19-year-old Zii Jia was one of the five nominees for the Most Promising Player of the Year award but it went to China’s women’s singles shuttler Chen Yufei for her bronze-medal winning feat at the World Championships in Glasgow (August).
The nomination however has whetted Zii Jia’s appetite to strive for a better season in 2018.
“It’s amazing how my first year in the senior rank has past so quickly. Being nominated for the award was a pleasant surprise.
“It’s been a good year,” said Zii Jia.
The 2016 World Junior Championships bronze medallist will end the year as the national No. 2 ranked singles player behind world No. 2 Lee Chong Wei.
In the world ranking he has leapt from No. 240 to No. 43 within a year.
He won his first senior title at the
Polish International Series in October.
At a higher ranked tournament, the Bitburger Open in Germany last month, he defeated France’s Brice Leverdez (24th) and China’s Qiao Bin (35th) to reach the last four.
The only blemish for Zii Jia was at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in August.
Zii Jia failed to save the tie for Malaysia during the team event as went down tamely 11-21, 11-21 to Indonesia’s Ihsan Maulana Mustofa in the final. Malaysia went on to lose 3-0.
“It showed that I lacked the mental strength to handle myself. This is where I will work on most next year,” added Zii Jia.
His first assignment in the new year will be at the Malaysian Masters from Jan 16-21.
He is also eyeing to represent Malaysia at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia (April), Thomas Cup Finals in Bangkok, Thailand ( May) and the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia (August).