BWF World Championships 2023: Malaysian star Lee Zii Jia keeps expectations low in Copenhagen
In the midst of a difficult season, Lee told Olympics.com he hopes to "play a very good game" when he meets fifth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the opening round.
Badminton
Lee Zii Jia is one of the big names competing at the 2023 BWF World Championships which get underway in Copenhagen on Monday (21 August).
But the Malaysian badminton star admits he has faced a number of "challenges" this year and that he is lacking in confidence compared to someone like defending world and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen.
Unseeded in the Danish capital, Lee could not have been handed a much more difficult opener than against Indonesia's fifth seed Jonatan Christie.
When asked about the draw and his expectations for the tournament, Lee told Olympics.com, "Well, I think it's not just the draw... My career, especially for this, is quite, quite tough.
"I had poor performances starting off this year and up and downs like crazy. For me, I'm just trying to go into the match and play a very good game. I think that's my target now."
The 25-year-old has failed to reach a final this year and slipped to No.13 in the world rankings. He does have three semi-final appearances to his name though, including at March's All England Open.
Victory over Christie in round one could be the confidence boost Lee needs with, on paper, an easier assignment against either Canada's Brian Yang or Kai Schaefer of Germany following in the last 32.
"Confidence means everything, including while you're on court," Lee said. "I think the example we can see is Axelsen. He can lose one match, but in the next tournament he's going to come back and be a champ again. That's confidence."
Lee and Christie are scheduled to meet in the eighth match on Court 2 on Monday with the day's action getting underway at 9am CEST local time (0700 UTC).
You can watch that match and all the action from the two main courts at the BWF World Championships, subject to geographical restrictions, live on Olympics.com via Olympic Channel.