What's Lee Zii Jia's 2023 goal? "Prove I am worthy of world number two"

Lee Zii Jia had a mixed 2022, to say the least.

The Malaysian badminton star began last year by announcing his split from his national association, earning a temporary ban from the national team – and finished it by parting from his coach while ranked world number two.

With the 2023 season already just days away with Lee's home Super 1000 Malaysia Open event in Kuala Lumpur due to get the year underway, this could be a pivotal year for the 24-year-old.

And while world and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen looks uncatchable in the world rankings, Lee hopes to make 2023 better than 2022 – and to firmly establish himself in the second spot behind Axelsen.

With plenty of others – among them Indonesia's Jonatan Christie and Anthony Ginting, Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien-chen, and Singapore's 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew – within touching distance of Lee in the world rankings, the Malaysian will have his work cut out for him, especially without a coach.

• Can Lee Zii Jia become World No.1?

Lee Zii Jia's rollercoaster 2022 season

When Lee announced in January 2022 he was leaving the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) set-up, it sparked a furore. The BAM at first suspended Lee for two years claiming it was a breach of contract and announced it would no longer select him for competitions.

But an agreement was reached for Lee to go independent while returning to the national team fold, and his decision to leave the BAM programme had at first appeared to pay off as he helped Malaysia win the Asia Team Championships in February, before he clinched the Badminton Asia Championships singles title in April followed by the Thailand Open.

However, his form then tailed off: after reaching the quarter-final and semi-final in back-to-back Indonesian tournaments, Lee suffered early exits including at the World Championships and Japan Open. Lee also opted to skip the Commonwealth Games, although he later explained he did so due to injury.

A late-season push for World Tour Finals qualification did not pay off – after finishing runner-up to Shi Yuqi at the Denmark Open, he again crashed out early in France and Australia.

Despite that, Zii Jia had still earned enough ranking points to move up to second in the world, behind only Axelsen and ahead of his other Asian rivals. And there was still one more twist to come in the year.

Lee had worked with coach Indra Wijaya since his time as a BAM contracted player, with Indonesian Indra serving as Malaysia's national team coach. After Lee left the set-up, Wijaya was allowed to join the shuttler's independent coaching team too. But, at the end November, the relationship ended, with Lee deciding he wanted to go solo.

Chinese Taipei's world number five Chou had until then been the most high-profile player without a coach.

Going it alone: Lee Zii Jia now coach-less

So 2023 begins for Lee with just his closest team – sister and manager Lee Zii Yii, and sparring partner and former national teammate Liew Daren – helping him on a regular basis.

Zii Jia has shown no signs yet of appointing a new coach to replace Indra Wijaya – recently saying, in quotes reported by New Straits Times, that he would focus on training with Liew in the short-term. 

"Right now, I have Daren to assist me," he said. "What's more important is that I need to find that breakthrough on my own – I have not been able to find the answer yet," Lee added referring to his patchy form and inconsistent results.

Could a training stint outside Malaysia help? After all, both Axelsen and world number six Loh often train together in Dubai with other players including India's world number 10 Lakshya Sen, away from their national team set-ups. Indeed, back in September ahead of the Denmark Open, Lee floated the idea of training with Axelsen and Anders Antonsen.

However, that does not seem to be in any of Zii Jia's calculations now. "We are bracing ourselves for a very busy schedule, so, I don't think I have the luxury of time to be able to train abroad," he said – but the door isn't closed.

"Maybe when there's a stretch of tournaments in Europe for example, then I would consider going one week earlier to train there."

Zii Jia cementing world number two spot

Lee is out to cement his ranking as world number two. Back in September, when still ranked fourth in the world, even just reaching those heights was his goal, with the Malaysian telling reporters he wanted to be ranked second "by the end of [2022]".

That was achieved ahead of time, as he reached second in the world in the rankings list of 25 October. But Lee isn't fully convinced he deserves to be there.

He did train abroad during the off-season, spending time in Taipei with Chou, where he told reporters: "I want to prove that I am worthy of world number two, and not because of the number of tournaments I'm playing." 

"I'm personally still not satisfied with my performance, especially with the fluctuations in my performance," Stadium Astro quoted him as saying.

Lee also indicated he was aware of the contingent of fellow Asians breathing down his neck on the world rankings. "The world number two position I'm occupying isn't that secure.

"When I return next year (2023), I must really go out there to prove that I deserve to be world number two."

His first attempt to do that will come on home soil at the Malaysia Open (10–15 January).

And if he wins in front of what will be a loud home cheering section, that road to establishing a hold on the world number two spot will have begun.