Zii Jia eyes world no. 2 ranking by year end


Professional men’s singles badminton player Lee Zii Jia aims to clinch the no. 2 spot on the Badminton World Federation rankings by the end of the year. – EPA pic, September 24, 2022.

MALAYSIAN professional men’s singles ace, Lee Zii Jia, has set his sights on overtaking two-time world champion, Kento Momota of Japan, by taking the second spot in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) world rankings by the end of this year.

The 2021 All England champion is determined to amass as many points as possible from the remaining tournaments this year in a bid step two rungs up from his current world no. 4 ranking.

“Aiming for ranking number two by end of this year,” he told reporters after a training session today.

Zii Jia is set to compete in three back-to-back European tournaments starting with the Denmark Open and French Open next month followed by the Hylo Open in Germany, in November.

The reigning Asian champion said that he is working on improving his performance and hopes to regain his confidence in all three Europe outings following his dismal show at the World Championships and Japan Open recently.

“I am determined to chase back my points from this Europe tour. I have learnt from my mistakes and will bring back my best performance for the next tournaments,” he added.

Last month, Zii Jia crashed out in the third round of the World Championships in Tokyo, losing 19-21, 21-11, 19-21 to China’s Zhao Jun Peng. The Malaysian suffered another blow when he lost to Kidambi Srikanth from India 20-22, 21-23 in the opening round of the Japan Open. – Bernama, September 24, 2022.


Sign up or sign in here to comment.


Comments