Zii Jia has long wayto go before he can succeed Chong Wei.
Lee fails to live up to his billing after first-round exit
PERHAPS Malaysian badminton fans shouldn’t get too excited yet about Lee Zii Jia being a possible successor to Lee Chong Wei.
The 21-year-old Zii Jia failed miserably to live up to his hype at the national No. 1 shuttler at the Celcom Axiata Malaysian Open in front of the home crowd yesterday.
In what Zii Jia described as a “winnable match’’, he was dumped out in the first round by world No. 33 Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand, going down to a 17-21, 21-19, 15-21 defeat.
“That certainly wasn’t my best performance,” said a dejected Zii Jia.
“When I first saw the (first round) draw, many people said it’s going to be easy for me.
“I felt that way too and paid a heavy price for being overconfident.
“I apologised to all the fans for letting them down.
“But I can assure everyone that I’m going to train harder and come back stronger at the Singapore Open next week.”
Zii Jia also confessed that the pressure of being the sole representative in the men’s singles competition following the exit of Liew Daren on Tuesday got the better of him.
“Yes, I’m feeling the pressure. But I believe every defeat is a good lesson and I can only grow stronger from it,” said Zii Jia.
“I have said many times that I’m still a work in progress and it’s normal for a young player like me to win or lose.
“But I won’t be down for long, I will bounce back.”
Fortunately, the host nation’s challenge in the singles event is not entirely over yet, thanks to Goh Jin Wei.
The two-time world junior champion showed no signs of being bothered by a hamstring problem with a convincing 21-13, 21-12 win over Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol.
It was a reassuring display by Jin Wei especially after her participation in this week’s tournament was in doubt due to the injury she sustained during the German Open early last month.
“The moment I confirmed playing this week, I was already injury-free,” declared Jin Wei, when asked if she’s still experiencing any pain.
“The only thing is that I’m not 100% fit yet. But I can surely only get better as the tournament progresses.”
Jin Wei will aim to continue her fine run on home soil when she faces Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong in the last 16 today.
She has never failed to make it at least to the quarter-finals in her last three appearances.
The last time Jin Wei played at the Malaysian Masters three months ago, she reached the semi-finals before losing to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon.