Zii Jia aims to adapt fast to Tat Meng's methods in Olympic chase

Wong was announced as Lee’s main handler and coaching director in May, seven months after the shuttler split ways with Indonesian coach Indra Wijaya.

The 2021 All-England champion just started work with Wong last week, who left his role in the Hong Kong set-up to return home after seven years abroad.

Besides his proven track record, Lee admitted the reason for Wong’s hiring was their shared national identity.

“He’s a local, and I want to fight for the Olympic dream with a Malaysian coach. I hope we’ll strike up a great chemistry together, and I also want to adapt to his methods at the soonest, as time is running short.

“He’s an experienced coach who has coached with South Korea and Hong Kong with good results. He is also experienced, having been around since Wong Mew Choo’s time,” said Lee.

55-year-old Wong, who previously trained current women's singles world number two An Se-young, admitted it took him three sleepless nights to accept the offer from Team LZJ.

“I had to carefully consider the offer, because my life was quite settled in Hong Kong and I had a smooth working arrangement there. But eventually I accepted because firstly, Zii Jia is our top men’s singles shuttler.

“I myself had been working abroad for several years, so it was a good time. People may look at Zii Jia’s ranking and think that he should be achieving certain results.

“But for an athlete to not be as consistent is normal, this is sports after all. I have been discussing with him on how to handle pressure, tournaments and external expectations,” said Wong.

Lee will compete at the Korea Open next week where he’s scheduled to face Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long.

After that, the world number 17 will head to Tokyo for the Japan Open (July 25-30) followed by the Australian Open in August.

“How he performs in these tournaments will determine my training programme,” added Wong.