PUTRAJAYA – Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh will finally meet independent player Lee Zii Jia tomorrow to discuss the challenges and concerns that he is facing now.
This is following a string of poor performances from the world No. 4 player since October last year.
After failing to pass the second round of the German Open in March, Zii Jia vented his frustration on social media as he posted, “I am f***ing done”.
However, Malaysian badminton fans are hoping that Zii Jia will get back to form as they believe that he has the capability to qualify and win the country’s first elusive gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
I will be meeting Zii Jia tomorrow because I have realised that he has lately been the talk of the town, and I believe the expectations for him are higher compared with other athletes.
“It won’t be a one-off meeting and we will have more meetings regarding his performance from time to time. Sometimes, athletes feel that they should meet the minister and the door is always open to them.
“Zii Jia is an independent player and I feel that he needs all the support he can get.
“The expectation for Zii Jia is greater compared with the other athletes in the Road to Gold (RTG) programme. There is so much interest from the public when it comes to him,” Hannah said.
The minister added that this is not necessarily healthy because all the recent media reports focusing on Zii Jia could mount a lot of pressure on him, thus affecting his performance on the court.
“This is why I will need to meet him and have that discussion,” Hannah said during a press conference at Menara KBS here today.
Zii Jia is among 11 shuttlers identified by the RTG committee with the potential to win an Olympic gold medal based on several criteria.
Among the criteria are that they must have been podium athletes at the 2020 Olympic Games and be ranked among the top 10 in the world.
Additionally, the committee will also consider other existing podium athletes who have demonstrated outstanding achievements.
Other than Zii Jia, his former teammates, top men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and top women’s pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah are also listed, while the three independent pairs are mixed doubles’ Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, and men’s doubles’ Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.
The RTG committee also named track cycling ace Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and teammate Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, as well as divers Datuk Pandelela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri.
Hannah added that the RTG coordinators – Datuk Nicol David, Datuk Lee Chong Wei, and Datuk Mirnawan Nawawi – will start meeting the athletes and their coaches in a month to identify their additional needs to catapult them in their Olympics pathway.
However, she noted the list will change as and when the qualifying tournaments for the 2024 Olympics of each sport starts and is subject to the approval of the RTG committee.
“This RTG has to start somewhere. That is why we came up with these criteria first, because this is about getting that gold.
“Not every athlete is going to qualify for the Olympics. That is also why we are giving you that list first, so that you can stop asking me who is on the list. After this, we can start talking to these athletes.
“Our third category is listed because we do not want to rule people out and say you have no chance. We will give whatever support we can to whoever can climb up to the top 10.
“If we need more money to support that purpose, we will find that money to help them,” she added.
The Segambut MP disclosed that the estimation for the RTG programme expenditure can only be determined after the meetings with all RTG athletes are complete. – The Vibes, April 7, 2023
