BADMINTON
'It will be a failure if Malaysia doesn't reach Asia Team Championships final' — Zii Jia
Lee Zii Jia feels anything less than a final berth at the upcoming Asia Team Championships (February 15-20) will be deemed a failure for Malaysia, who on paper can boast the strongest men’s squad amongst the eight competing teams.
“We must target to become champions, if not at least make the final. If we don’t reach the final, it will be a failure. I will also consider it a personal failure. Looking at the teams, you can see they are not fielding their best players.
“Most of them have opted to send their second lineup. Based on that, we are the strongest in terms of ranking,” said Lee upon returning to the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) for the first time since leaving the national body.
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The world number seven took part in his first centralised training session on Friday, and said he “couldn’t sleep as he was excited to meet with his friends”, and how much he enjoyed the session.
Lee also spoke about life since becoming an independent shuttler, noting that it was a bigger challenge that he was ready for.
“You must take care of everything, but thankfully I have my family support to help me with this. As of now, I want to focus on training and producing results,” he said.
Lee had not finalised his team as of yet, including matters related to sponsors, his coach and a training base.
He trained with Liew Daren and Soong Joo Ven since returning from Alor Setar after the Chinese New Year break, adding that Goh Jin Wei also joined their sessions.
When pressed on his future sponsors and coach, Lee said he was still in negotiations phase but nothing was confirmed as of yet.
The shuttler also confirmed he got offers from badminton apparel brands Victor and Li Ning among others to become potential sponsors.
“I hope to have my team ready by the time the German Open (March 8-13) takes place,” he added.
Lee also said he might join Viktor Axelsen’s training camp in Dubai in the future.
As for the potential showdown against reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew next week, Lee said it was an important showdown for both shuttlers, saying: "He will be eager to impress as the world champion."