Lee Zii Jia

Introducing Lee Zii Jia, a talented badminton player from Malaysia who was born on March 29, 1998. The 2021 All England Open saw him win his first BWF Super 1000 championship after he won the gold medal in men's singles at the 2019 SEA Games. With his victory in the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships, Lee furthered his display of skill by emerging as the 2022 men's singles Asian champion.

Early Life

Chinese Malaysians Lee Chee Hin and Leow Siet Peng, who were teachers and former basketball players, welcomed Lee Zii Jia into the world in Alor Setar, Kedah. At the age of six, his parents introduced him to the game of badminton. In Kedah's Alor Setar, he went to Keat Hwa H Primary School. His performance in the under-12 tournament led to his enrollment at the Bukit Jalil Sports School thereafter.

Career

He won the junior championship in the Perak and Selangor badminton open in 2015, and his great results earned him a position in the Malaysian badminton association. He finished third in the World Junior Championships in 2016 and qualified to the India International Series final. He won his first senior championship at the Polish International, reached the semifinals of the Bitburger Open, and reached the Thailand Masters.

In order to earn his first BWF World Tour championship, he defeated the player ranked fourth in the world in the Chinese Taipei Open final in 2018. He advanced to the Korea Masters final as well. He struggled at a number of events and had financial troubles in 2019. But he advanced to the Thailand Open semifinals and rose to the eleventh spot in the BWF World Ranking. In December, he took home the gold medal in men's singles at the SEA Games.

Playing in Southeast Asia, Lee began the badminton season in 2020 and advanced to the Malaysian semifinals, where he was defeated by world No. 1 Kento Momota. At the Asia Team Championships in February, he led the men's team from Malaysia to a silver medal. Due in part to his strong performance in the competition, Lee's global rating increased to number ten.

In March 2021, Lee defeated Viktor Axelsen in the championship match of the All England Open to win his first Super 1000 event. Later, at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Lee participated in the men's singles division. He won his first matches but was defeated by Chen Long in the round of 16.

After suffering injuries while playing against Loh Kean Yew in November 2021, Lee advanced to the Hylo Open final but was forced to withdraw. At the end of the year, Lee competed in the 2021 World Championships, but he had to withdraw from the quarterfinals because of blisters on his feet.

Rumor had it that Lee intended to quit the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in January 2022 because he wasn't happy with their demands. Finally, he offered his resignation on January 19. Lee was thus prohibited for two years from taking part in any event, Badminton World Federation (BWF) sanctioned events and international competitions that required BAM's clearance. nonetheless, once Lee and BAM came to an arrangement on January 25, the ban was removed; However, the specifics were kept a secret.

After beating Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships in May, Lee claimed his first championship of the year. At the 2022 Thailand Open later in May, he defeated Li Shifeng of China to win his first BWF World Tour Super 500 championship.

Lee took part in the Indonesia Masters, Indonesia Open, and Malaysia Open in June. He was beaten in the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open, but he was shockingly eliminated by Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia in the Round of 16 in the Malaysia Open.

Lee, citing injury claims, missed the Commonwealth Games in favor of the August World Championships. In the third round, Zhao Junpeng of China defeated him as the fifth seed. Lee lost the Japan Open and the French Open in the tournaments that followed.

Lee lost to China's Shi Yuqi in the Denmark Open final in October. He was defeated one again by Shesar Hiren Rhustavito in the French Open. A slight hand injury kept Lee out of the World Tour Finals at the Australia Open, which was his final opportunity to qualify. Lee broke up with his coach, Indra Wijaya, in November 2022, saying he wanted to try something different and forgo having a coach.

During the badminton season in 2023, Lee had difficulties. Kodai Naraoka defeated him in the first round of the Malaysia Open. He advanced to the second round of the India Open, but Li Shifeng overcame him. In the second round of the Indonesia Masters, he was defeated by Ng Ka Long.

In the 2023 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships, Lee led Malaysia and won a few matches during the round robin phase. However, she lost to Prannoy H. S. in an encounter against India. In the elimination round, he overcame Chinese player Lei Lanxi to recover.

As part of the celebration of Victor's 55th anniversary, Lee made history in March by becoming the first badminton player from Malaysia to be featured on a billboard in Times Square, New York. He participated in the German Open but was defeated by Lee Chia-hao in the second round.

In the first round of the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships, Lee was defeated by Ng Ka Long. He led Malaysia to a bronze medal in the Sudirman Cup, winning five games before falling to Korea in the quarterfinals.

In May, Lee made Wong Tat Meng his new coach known. He won the first round of the Malaysia Masters but lost the second. Due to early exits in the Singapore Open and Indonesia Open, Lee considered taking a break from competition.

In the first round of the Korea Open in July, Lee was defeated by Ng Ka Long once again. He competed in the Asian Games in October, finishing outside the quarterfinals in the men's team event but turning in a noteworthy individual performance to snap a losing skid and beat world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn.

In the end, Lee defeated Ng Tze Yong to win the 2023 Arctic Open after going 17 months without a championship. But in the Denmark Open, he had to settle for second place after losing to Weng Hongyang in straight sets for the second year in a row.

Achievements

• Lee Zii Jia won a gold medal at the 2022 ASEAN Games.
• In 2022, he secured gold at the Thailand Open and the Arctic Open in 2023.
• Lee Zii Jia earned a silver medal at the Denmark Open in both 2022 and 2023.
• He claimed the men's singles gold at the 2019 SEA Games and a bronze at the 2016 BWF World Junior Championships.
• Lee Zii Jia achieved 1st place at the 2018 Chinese Taipei Open, the 2021 All England Open, and the 2023 Denmark Open.
• He earned silver medals at the 2018 Korea Masters, the 2021 Hylo Open, and the 2022 Denmark Open.
• In 2017, Lee Zii Jia emerged as the gold medalist at the Polish International in the BWF International Challenge/Series.