Zii Jia out to strut his stuff.
Zii Jia needs to stamp his mark in invitational tourney
KUALA LUMPUR: The last time Lee Zii Jia played in a local tournament in March last year, it ended miserably.
Zii Jia went into the National Championships as the overwhelming favourite but was humbled by unheralded Datu Mohd Shah Eizlan Sardik in the last 16.
Seventeen months later, the national No. 1’s credentials will be put to the test again when the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) Invitational Championships get under way at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) today.
This time, though, Zii Jia comes with much stronger credentials.
Besides being world No. 10, he is also the SEA Games champion and semi-finalist of the All-England, the last tournament before the season was halted in March.
On paper at least, Zii Jia is expected to dominate the eight-man contest that also includes Liew Daren, Soong Joo Ven, Cheam June Wei, Leong Jun Hao, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin, Ng Tze Yong and Lim Chong King.
Men’s singles head coach Hendrawan has backed Zii Jia to come out tops, but much depends on how well he cope with the expectations and how quick he regains his match competitiveness after a long absence.
“If he’s able to play his usual game and to his true ability, I have no doubt he will win the championship,” said Hendrawan.
“But one of the concerns is that the uncertainties over when international competitions would resume may have unsettled him a little bit.
“He has been training for more than two months now without a tournament. It’s the longest he has gone without competition.
“He also said that fatigue is starting to kick in. That may lead to a decline in concentration. But I assured him that it’s okay to feel that way. He’s only human.”
Hendrawan has also urged Zii Jia not to put unnecessary pressure on himself against lower-ranked opponents.
“Zii Jia’s status is different now. He’s the world No. 10, the country’s top player but that doesn’t mean you can’t get beaten by his juniors or the independent players.
“Playing against his own friends and teammates isn’t easy as they know his game very well. At some point, he would lose to lower-ranked players, it’s inevitable because he’s still young.”
Hendrawan said the battle between the nation’s top two – Zii Jia and Daren – should be the highlight of this week.
“It will be interesting to watch as Zii Jia and Daren have not met in an official match before,” he said.
Hendrawan said he will also pay close attention to how the young trio of Chong King, Aidil and Tze Yong fare in the tournament.
“This tournament presents them with a great opportunity to prove themselves. Chong King did well last week to qualify for the Division One meet,” said Hendrawan.
“With no lower-tier tournaments lined up, this could be their only competitive action for the year.
“I have told them to treat this meet like a major event. I hope to see them scoring upset against their seniors. They should believe in themselves and not show too much respect to their higher-ranked opponents.”
The men’s singles competition will be played in a round-robin format for five days. The top two finishers will advance to final on Sunday.