All-England champion Lee Zii Jia revealed he was so distraught of his poor outing at the Bangkok Tour in January that he lied to his family and skipped Chinese New Year celebrations to train alone.
“The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) gave us a break for the Chinese New Year celebrations after returning from Bangkok, but I told my family they didn’t give us a break so that I could train alone.
“Even if I went back for Chinese New Year, I wouldn’t have had any mood to celebrate because I was so stressed out due to my performance,” Lee told the press in a virtual session held from his quarantine hotel at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
That hard work and perseverance paid off handsomely, as the world number eight went on to beat the world's top two Kento Momota and Viktor Axelsen for his first major title.
During the hour-long session, the Kedah-born added he wanted to be the hardest worker in the room and not swayed by his latest success.
“I cannot take this victory for granted. I must continue to be disciplined, refine my strong points and work on my weakness. I need to be the hardest worker in the room. That means not expecting any preferential treatment and not slacking off at all in training.
“I have also seen many athletes who get famous after winning, and get their time preoccupied by doing other things. I have got so many people getting in touch with me for interview requests and other things.
“While I appreciate the attention, I need to make it clear that I have my training time, my rest time and my own personal time. I just want to focus on getting better and do not want to get side tracked by other things,” he said.
Lee was also asked numerous times on taking over the mantle from badminton great Lee Chong Wei, in which he responded: “I am not the second Lee Chong Wei, I am Lee Zii Jia and I am going through my own journey and I have my own story to tell.”
