KUALA LUMPUR – National men’s singles coach Hendrawan believes that shuttler Lee Zii Jia is in the best shape to shine at next month’s Tokyo Olympics.
Hendrawan said that this was despite Zii Jia having not played competitively since winning the All England title in March.
Zii Jia created a sensation when he emerged as All England champion after defeating world number two Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 in the final at Birmingham.
“I believe Zii Jia can better control the situation this time as he has learned from experience. We, the coaches, are now trying hard to help him through various programmes, including enhancing his physical strength and training pattern as well as by having test matches before he heads to Tokyo,” the coach told Bernama recently.
After winning the All England, which is the world’s oldest badminton tournament, the world number eight’s hopes of further enhancing his reputation and performance ahead of the July 23-Aug 8 Tokyo Olympics were dashed following the cancellation of the Malaysia Open in May and Singapore Open earlier this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 23-year-old Zii Jia had experienced a similar situation, having been forced to undergo a long break of nearly a year following the cancellation of badminton tournaments worldwide due to the pandemic before action resumed with three competitions in Bangkok, Thailand earlier this year.
The long break affected Zii Jia badly as he performed dismally in the three competitions in Bangkok and crashed out in the semi-finals of the Swiss Open before producing an outstanding display en route to lifting the coveted All England title.
Meanwhile, Hendrawan is confident that the presence of national professional singles shuttler Liew Daren as Zii Jia’s sparring partner since May 24 will be a big help ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
“As a senior shuttler, Daren may be able to help Zii Jia, not only in terms of training but also experience and how to handle pressure as well as provide quality sparring,” he said.
The Kedah-born Zii Jia, who is set to make his debut in the world’s biggest multi-sport Games, will surely be among the medal contenders in Tokyo following his All England triumph.
Zii Jia will have seven other shuttlers for company at the Tokyo Olympics, namely Soniia Cheah (women’s singles; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles); Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean (women’s doubles); and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (mixed doubles).
They will be joined by Khairul Anuar Mohamad (archery); Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom (track cycling); Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Ng Yan Yee, Pandelela Rinong, Leong Mun Yee (diving); Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (artistic gymnastics); Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy, Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif, Nuraisyah Jamil and Juni Karimah Noor Jamali (sailing).
