Lee Chong Wei believes Lee Zii Jia has the potential to become one of the best players in the world.
The 19-year-old pulled off an upset at the Bitburger Open in Germany by knocking out Brice Leverdez in the quarter-finals on Friday.
The French shuttler memorably handed a shock defeat to Chong Wei in the first round of the BWF World Championships in August.
However, despite securing the good result against Leverdez, Zii Jia was unable to sustain his performance in the last four and went down 21-11, 21-12 to eventual Bitburger Open winner Rasmus Gemke on Saturday.
Although he fell short of winning his second senior title, having won the Polish International just a few weeks earlier, Chong Wei urged the Kedah-born player to take positives from his recent performances.
"He is still just 19 years old and, for me, he is one for the future," the Malaysia No. 1 shuttler told Astro Arena.
"What he has achieved at his current age is impressive, and now it depends on the coaches and the BAM [Badminton Association of Malaysia] to guide him."
Furthermore, after starting the year at 240th, Zii Jia is now ranked 55th in the world, leading to Chong Wei believing his junior can scale the heights.
"He needs to focus on his performances, not just on one tournament," the 35-year-old added.
"There will be more tournaments for him next year and hopefully he can prepare better for them."
The 19-year-old pulled off an upset at the Bitburger Open in Germany by knocking out Brice Leverdez in the quarter-finals on Friday.
The French shuttler memorably handed a shock defeat to Chong Wei in the first round of the BWF World Championships in August.
However, despite securing the good result against Leverdez, Zii Jia was unable to sustain his performance in the last four and went down 21-11, 21-12 to eventual Bitburger Open winner Rasmus Gemke on Saturday.
Although he fell short of winning his second senior title, having won the Polish International just a few weeks earlier, Chong Wei urged the Kedah-born player to take positives from his recent performances.
"He is still just 19 years old and, for me, he is one for the future," the Malaysia No. 1 shuttler told Astro Arena.
"What he has achieved at his current age is impressive, and now it depends on the coaches and the BAM [Badminton Association of Malaysia] to guide him."
Furthermore, after starting the year at 240th, Zii Jia is now ranked 55th in the world, leading to Chong Wei believing his junior can scale the heights.
"He needs to focus on his performances, not just on one tournament," the 35-year-old added.
"There will be more tournaments for him next year and hopefully he can prepare better for them."
