Lee Zii Jia reveals plans as he targets first world title
Malaysia's superstar talks about his gruelling schedule ahead of the 2022 BWF World Championships where he hopes to win his country's first world title.
Badminton
Lee Zii Jia is a marked man, on the court.
A lot of things have changed since the Malaysia badminton superstar won the Asia Championships and Thailand Open and rose to a career-high number five in the world.
The 24-year-old is learning how to deal with increased expectations, both from himself and others.
All his moves are analysed; his entire game is scrutinised under a microscope.
Lee Zii Jia has now revealed his gruelling tournament schedule ahead of the 2022 BWF World Championships set for 21-28 August in Japan.
The star shuttler intents to play five tournaments in a row with the goal of being in top shape for the Worlds in Tokyo where he hopes to win Malaysia's first ever world title.
After the Indonesia Masters (7-12 June), he has signed up for the Indonesia Open (14-19 June), the Malaysia Open (28 June-3 July), the Malaysia Masters (5-10 July) and the Singapore Open (12-17 July).
"My target is the World Championships. I have discussed this with my coach and we are planning my preparations towards it," said Lee.
"All the tournaments are close, and it depends on my condition too. From the five upcoming tournaments, I could even pull out from one."
Can Lee Zii Jia win Malaysia's first world title?
All roads lead to the 2022 BWF World Championships. Can Lee Zii Jia win Malaysia's first gold medal?
Not even the great Lee Chong Wei accomplished that. The former world number one captured three silver and one bronze medal at world championships.
At last year's worlds, Lee was forced to retire in the quarters against Denmark's Anders Antonsen due to a bloody blister in the third game.
That was then.
Lee is a much improved player despite insisting that consistency is an area he needs to work on.
He won two titles since the 2021 BWF World Championships and reached the semi-finals at both the All England and the German Open.
"We have to be realistic and it is impossible to expect Zii Jia to win all the tournaments he is involved in," warns his personal coach Indra Wijaya.
"He is a normal human being, not Superman. We can't expect him to win all the competitions because his body needs rest. It's not the end for Zii Jia if he loses."
You can follow Lee's progress at the Indonesia Masters right here on Olympics.com.