As Lee Zii Jia returned to national training from a long hiatus following his gallant run at the All-England Championships, the shuttler was aware this restart would spark a reset in his partnership with chief coach Hendrawan.
The world number 10 has been training with the Indonesian since August last year, but their partnership is not a finished article due to the grueling schedule and Lee was mostly receiving advice from the touchline in tournaments.
With competitive badminton in top-tier events only scheduled to begin in September, Lee has three months of solid sessions with Hendrawan to solidify his game.
"He hasn’t had much time to work on my skills, because last year I was busy playing many competitions. I think I played over 20 tournaments last year. Thus far I’ve been seen as a one-dimensional player with only an attacking game.
"He told me I must be competent in both attack and defence, in order to be a top notch player. His experience as a former world champion is invaluable, not something many people have,” said Lee in a recent interview.
Many fans are still raving about his All-England run, which saw him come within touching distance of reaching the final, and expectations are there for him to pick up from where he left off.
Malaysia’s national coaching director Wong Choong Hann says that is one of the factors they are refining in the shuttler.
"He’s learning to cope. There are moments of ups and downs, in terms of his stability. We try our best to assist him to neutralize these elements, so he can consistently perform with a strong, firm, positive mindset," said Wong.
But Lee knows ultimately, he is on his own in court, saying: "Coaches and the people around me can only help 10 to 20 percent. I must rely on myself for the remaining 80 percent. We are singles players, so we are alone in court. If you can’t handle the stress, fear and anxiety, you will surely lose."
Just like how Hendrawan worked so well with Lee Chong Wei in the past, the hope is that he can replicate the same formula with his namesake.
