KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s singles ace Lee Zii Jia (pix) has the opportunity to prove that the improvement shown at last week’s Australian Open is not a fluke when he competes in the more challenging World Badminton Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark from Aug 21-27.
Based on today’s Badminton World Federation (BWF) draw, the world number 13 shuttler faces a tricky path in his quest for glory as he will have to get past world number five Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the opening round.
However, Zii Jia, winner of the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships, has the potential to spring a surprise following a significant improvement in his performance when he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open last week.
Zii Jii was quick to point out that he has not had much time to prepare for the world meet, which is less than two weeks away.
“I think there are no big changes to my training (regime), I think just maintain… I will try to build up my confidence level but there’s still a long way to go… it’s a big process and we have to be patient,” he said in a video clip shared with reporters today.
Meanwhile, Ng Tze Yong also faces a tough passage after being drawn against 2022 edition bronze medallist Zhao Jun Peng of China.
Lady Luck, however, seems to favour top national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik after they were handed an easy path towards retaining their title in the prestigious tournament.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who have a first-round bye, can breathe easy after being drawn to meet either Bulgaria’s Ivan Rusev-Iliyan Stoynov or Australians Jeppe Bay-Lasse Molhede in the next round.
Having said that, world number four Aaron-Wooi Yik had better be wary as they have not been up to par of late and failing to end their title drought in this season’s World Tour.
Aaron-Wooi Yik were eliminated in the quarter-finals of last week’s Australian Open and last month’s Japan Open.
Their best achievement so far this season has been finishing as runners-up in the Indian Open and Indonesian Open.
Top national women’s doubles aces Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, who also received a first-round bye, are scheduled to take on either Scotland’s Julie Macpherson-Ciara Torrance or Australians Kaitlyn Ea-Gronya Somerville in the second round. –Bernama
