KUALA LUMPUR – Lee Zii Jia expressed no regrets about skipping the Birmingham 2021 Commonwealth Games at the eleventh hour.
The world’s fourth-ranked shuttler defended his decision that he wanted to focus on his physical recovery, in time for the Tokyo World Championships in August.
I did not regret it because I was suffering from injuries.
“I only did what I thought was right for me at that time,” said the 24-year-old.
Zii Jia was heavily criticised for his decision to skip the quadrennial multisport event held in July, which eventually put bigger pressure on him to excel at the world meet.
Unfortunately, much to everyone’s surprise, he only made it as far as the last 16 when he lost to China’s Zhao Jun Peng.
A few days after, he competed at Japan Open but suffered a first-round exit to India’s Srikanth Kidambi.
Speaking to the media for the first time today since leaving the national setup, Zii Jia admitted that he was under a lot of pressure for his downward performance.
“I have not been speaking to the media since I left BA of Malaysia because I was not ready to face them.
“I needed some time to settle some things on my end and re-strategise everything.
“I was also a bit disappointed because I put high expectations on myself for the world championships, and it did not work out the way I wanted.
“I have to accept that and move on,” said the Kedah-born shuttler.
He added that the experience provided him with a valuable lesson.
Moving forward, he aimed to work better on improving his performance as well as his relationship with the media.
“My performance is still unstable, there have been a lot of ups and downs.
“So, I would like to work on improving my performance so that I could stay consistent.
“I would also like to be more open to the media on any updates from my side. That is why I opened an Instagram account for any official announcements on preparations or tournaments,” he added.
Meanwhile, Zii Jia’s sister Lee Zii Yii, also his manager, shared they aimed to be the catalyst for a healthy environment for professional shuttlers in the country.
Despite not having much experience as her brother had only turned professional in January, Zii Yii confessed that they are still learning the ins and outs of managing an independent team.
“He (Zii Jia) had just turned pro, so we have never done this before.
We hope we are the first ones to plan out a good environment for all the future independent players.
“I am not sure whether we are doing the right thing, but at least we have something to start off with,” said Zii Yii.
Zii Yii added that they are also working on getting more commercial sponsors to come on board in their campaign to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics as the qualification period will commence on May 1, 2024.
On another matter, Zii Jia revealed that he will be in Denmark a week earlier before the Denmark Open began on October 18 to be training alongside the world’s third-ranked Anders Antonsen and top-ranked Viktor Axelsen.
Soon after the Denmark Open, he will also compete in the French Open scheduled on October 25-30. – The Vibes, September 24, 2022.
