KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 – National No. 1 Lee Zii Jia is not getting carried away with his recent All-England men’s singles title that has become the talk of the badminton world after he blew away the top two ranked players along the way.
Instead, the 22-year-old who will celebrate his 23rd birthday on Monday, is preparing for a journey that will teach him of the ”ups and downs” that he has to endure in his badminton career.
It is just the beginning and this year alone he has gone through the lows and highs – getting flak for his disappointing outing in Bangkok (Yonex Thailand Open, Toyota Thailand Open and the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals before surprising everyone with the All England title in Birmingham last week. A week earlier he reached the semi-finals in the Yonex Swiss Open in Basel.
”I am no successor to (Datuk Lee) Chong Wei. He is a legend. For me my journey has begun and I have to train hard and stay focused on my game. I will not be carried away just because I won the All England.
“Being humble is my way of looking forward to further improve my game. Yes. I beat Kento Momota (World No 1) and Viktor Axelsen (World No 2) in Birmingham. It gives me many positives impact in my game but as I said it’s a long journey to reach the top.
”Right now I wish to remain as Lee Zii Jia. I hope I will not be compared to Chong Wei. There is a wide gap between us,” said Zii Jia who will not be defending his SEA Games as the Badminton Association (BAM) has already decided to send the back-up players to the biennial games which be held in Hanoi this year.
For now Zii Jia is hell bent on writing his own story – beginning with the All England. Many have hailed Zii Jia as a medal prospect in the Tokyo Olympics and it will be another chapter in his story if he gets on the rostrum in the mega event.
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