Lee Zii Jia is bound for another daunting task at the upcoming Indonesia Open, which begins on Tuesday, as the country’s top men’s singles shuttler hopes to rekindle some stability when he takes on Lakshya Sen.

Lee suffered another setback after crashing out in the opening round of the Singapore Open last week at the hands of Weng Hong Yang.

While that 20-22, 21-16, 19-21 defeat could have gone either way and showed the strength of rapidly improving Chinese men’s singles players, Lee himself knew sustained consistency was needed.

This year, he found that his success on court came in patches.

March was a good month with back-to-back semi-finals at the All-England and Swiss Open, but his purple patch came last month when he won all four of his matches at the Sudirman Cup.

Since then, he suffered early exits at the Malaysia Masters and then in Singapore.

“I need that stability on court. Sometimes I play well and other times I have performed badly. I have to think properly, it’s too much for me now,” said Lee after the Singapore Open loss.

With Wong Tat Meng set to come in as his main coach and technical director, most likely after the Indonesia Open, the world number 10 needs a huge performance to get his head back in the game.

Sen could be the ideal opponent for the Malaysian to rediscover some form, with the Indian also in search of momentum after a flurry of early exits this year.

Both shuttlers met twice last year, with Lee losing the first one at the All-England, before winning at the Thomas Cup.

Ng Tze Yong, meanwhile, has a trickier contest against Shi Yu Qi.

The world number 21 did well in recent months with victories against Viktor Axelsen and Chou Tien-chen, but was not able to produce sustained growth in tournaments.

The Indonesia Open is loaded with a stellar cast including world number one Viktor Axelsen, who is back in action since retiring in the Sudirman Cup quarter-finals against Lee with a strained left hamstring.

Other top names include home favourites Anthony Ginting, who won the Singapore Open, and Jonatan Christie.

Goodbye #SingaporeOpen2023, hello #IndonesiaOpen2023! ?

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