Lee Zii Jia

Lee Zii Jia (Chinese: 李梓嘉; pinyin: Lǐ Zǐjiā, born 29 March 1998) is a Malaysian badminton player. He was the men's singles gold medalist at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and won his first BWF Super 1000 title at the 2021 All England Open.[4] Lee is the reigning men's singles Asian Champion, winning the title at the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lee (李).
Lee Zii Jia
李梓嘉
Lee in 2020
Personal information
CountryMalaysia
Born (1998-03-29) 29 March 1998
Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia[1]
ResidenceBukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia[2]
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Years active2016–present
HandednessRight[1]
CoachIndra Wijaya[3]
Men's singles
Career record184 wins, 88 losses
Highest ranking6 (3 May 2022)
Current ranking6 (3 May 2022)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Malaysia
Sudirman Cup
2021 Vantaa Mixed team
Asian Championships
2022 Manila Men's singles
Asia Team Championships
2022 Selangor Men's team
2020 Manila Men's team
2018 Alor Setar Men's team
Southeast Asian Games
2019 Philippines Men's singles
2017 Kuala Lumpur Men's team
2019 Philippines Men's team
World Junior Championships
2016 Bilbao Mixed team
2016 Bilbao Boys' singles
BWF profile

Personal life

Lee Zii Jia was born in Alor Setar, Kedah to Chinese Malaysians Lee Chee Hin and Leow Siet Peng, teachers and former basketball internationals.[5] He was first introduced to badminton by his parents at the age of 6. In his earlier years, he studied at Keat Hwa H Primary School in Alor Setar, Kedah. Due to his results in the under 12 competition, he was soon drafted into the Bukit Jalil Sports School.

Career

2015

In 2015, he became the junior champion in the Perak and Selangor Badminton Open. These standout performances and wins in the international circuit earned him a place in the Badminton Association of Malaysia.

2016

In November 2016, Lee won a bronze medal in the World Junior Championships after losing to Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in the semifinals. In the same month, he advanced to the final of India International Series but was defeated by Lakshya Sen.

2017

In February 2017, Lee reached the semifinals of the Thailand Masters, where he lost to Kantaphon Wangcharoen. In September 2017, he won his first senior title at the Polish International, against Soong Joo Ven in the final. In November 2017, Lee reached the semifinals of the Bitburger Open.[6]

2018

In October 2018, Lee reached the final of the Chinese Taipei Open by defeating the World No. 4 men's singles player, Chou Tien-chen in the semifinals. He defeated Riichi Takeshita in the final to win his first BWF World Tour title and second international title overall.[7][8] In doing so, he became the second Malaysian other than Lee Chong Wei to win a BWF top flight men's singles title since 2013. Lee then reached the final of the Korea Masters but lost to Son Wan-ho.[9]

2019

Lee started the 2019 season by competing in the Thailand Masters. He lost in the quarter finals to Brice Leverdez of France in straight games.[10] In the next tournaments, he also finished in the quarter finals in Malaysia Masters, Indonesia Masters, and German Open.[11] He later lost in the early stage of Swiss, Malaysia, and Singapore Open's.[12][13] He admitted that he had struggled to cope with financial difficulties, lack of progress and unfairness that affected his performance.[12]

In August, Lee finally managed to make it into the semi-finals in the Thailand Open, where he lost to Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei. This was nonetheless an improvement to his being a quarter finalist in New Zealand and Indonesia Open's.[11][14] He qualified to compete in World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, but lost to the World No. 1 men's singles player, and the eventual World Champion, Kento Momota of Japan in the quarter finals.[15] In November, he was forced to retire in the second round of the China Open, and decided to withdraw as well from the next tournament in Hong Kong, due suffering from food poisoning and fever.[16][17] Lee reached world No. 11 in the BWF World ranking on November 12th. In December, he won the men's singles gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games,[18] and also helped the national men's team win the silver medal.[19]

2020

Lee opened the season by participating in Southeast Asian tours in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand Masters, with his best result being a semi-finalist in Malaysia, wherein he lost to the world number 1 Kento Momota in straight games.[20] In February, he alongside Malaysia men's team, won the silver medal at the Asia Team Championships,[21] during which time he was the national team captain[22] He won 4 out of 5 matches in the Asia Team Championships, losing in the final match against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.

Later in March, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe, the German Open was cancelled. Lee's next tournament was the All England Open, which was also be his debut at the tournament because his ranking was previously too low to qualify.[23] He won against Jonatan Christie, who had won in four previous matches.[24] He continued this win streak against Lu Guangzu and then the Olympic champion Chen Long.[25] In the semi final match, he lost to Viktor Axelsen. The match lasted for 73 minutes.[26] Further, Lee's performance at the All England Open raised his world ranking to no. 10 on 17 March 2020.[27]

2021: All England Open title

In March, Lee won his first Super 1000 tournament at the All England Open, defeating the defending champion Viktor Axelsen by a score of 30–29, 20–22, 21–9.[28] In July 2021, in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Lee took part in the men's singles and won against Artem Pochtarov with a score of 21–5 and 21–11. In the subsequent match against Brice Leverdez, he won with a score of 21–17 and 21–5. Lee was eliminated in the round of 16, where he was defeated by Chen Long with a score of 21–8, 19–21, and 5–21.[29]

2022: Leaving BAM and subsequent ban

In January 2022, there were speculation that Lee had indicated his intention to leave the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), citing unhappiness with the association, though reasons were never disclosed.[30] He eventually officially resigned on 19 January.[31] In response, Lee was banned for two years from participating in any international tournaments that required BAM's approval as well as any Badminton World Federation (BWF)–sanctioned tournaments.[32] With the public and international players responding negatively on the ban, Lee appealed against the ban on 24 January 2022.[33] The ban was lifted after Lee and BAM met on 25 January 2022, with the terms yet to be revealed.[34]

2022: Asian Champion

In the 1st of May 2022, Zii Jia successfully beaten Indonesia's Jonatan Christie with the score 21-17 , 23-21 during the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships which made him as the reigning men single's Asian Champion.

Achievements

Asian Championships

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2022 Muntinlupa Sports Complex, Metro Manila, Philippines Jonatan Christie 21–17, 23–21 Gold

Southeast Asian Games

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2019 Muntinlupa Sports Complex, Metro Manila, Philippines Loh Kean Yew 21–18, 21–18 Gold

BWF World Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2016 Bilbao Arena, Bilbao, Spain Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 19–21, 18–21 Bronze

BWF World Tour (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[35] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[36]

Men's singles

Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result
2018 Chinese Taipei Open Super 300 Riichi Takeshita 21–17, 16–21, 21–11 Winner
2018 Korea Masters Super 300 Son Wan-ho 16–21, 11–21 Runner-up
2021 All England Open Super 1000 Viktor Axelsen 30–29, 20–22, 21–9 Winner
2021 Hylo Open Super 500 Loh Kean Yew 21–19, 13–21, 12–17r Runner-up

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2016 India International Series Lakshya Sen 13–11, 3–11, 6–11, 6–11 Runner-up
2017 Polish International Soong Joo Ven 21–17, 21–16 Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament

Notes

    References
    1. "Lee Zii Jia". bam.org.my. Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
    2. "BWF Lee Zii Jia Profile". BWF.
    3. "Indra Wijaya to be Zii Jia's coach". The Star. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
    4. "Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia lifts 2021 All England title after defeating Denmark's Viktor Axelsen".
    5. Fabian Peter (27 December 2020). "PMM2020: Zii Jia ready for a 'fresh start' - Choong Hann". Badminton Association of Malaysia. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
    6. Fabian Peter (5 November 2017). "Bit off more than he could chew: Zii Jia slayed at Bitburger Open". New Straits Times. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
    7. Seng Foo (7 October 2018). "Zii Jia wins maiden BWF World Tour title". Stadium Astro. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
    8. "Malaysia's Zii Jia clinches Taiwan Open badminton title". Malay Mail. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
    9. Helmi Talkah (2 December 2018). "Victory in defeat for Zii Jia". New Straits Times. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
    10. "Malaysia Masters a golden opportunity for Zii Jia". www.stadiumastro.com. Stadium Astro. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
    11. de Silva, Joash Ee (3 August 2019). "Zii Jia bounces back from first-game defeat to reach semis". www.thestar.com.my. The Star. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
    12. Tan, Ming Wai (13 April 2019). "Zii Jia vents frustration over financial difficulties and personal struggles". www.thestar.com.my. The Star. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
    13. Liew, Vincent (4 April 2019). "Lin Dan gets comeback win, Lee Zii Jia falls short at Malaysia Open". www.badmintonplanet.com. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
    14. Palar, Sanjeev (19 August 2019). "Lee Zii Jia is Malaysia's new badminton hope". www.olympicchannel.com. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
    15. "Lee Zii Jia, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying exit world badminton meet". www.malaymail.com. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
    16. Peter, Fabian (8 November 2019). "Food poisoning, fever force Zii Jia to throw in towel against Momota". www.nst.com.my. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
    17. Boopathy, K. M. (11 November 2019). "Malaysia sweating on Zii Jia's health". www.nst.com.my. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
    18. Tan, Ming Wai (9 December 2019). "Zii Jia bags badminton singles gold at SEA Games". www.thestar.com.my. The Star. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
    19. "Malaysia wins silver in badminton men's team event, loses 1-3 to Indonesia in gold medal match". www.thestar.com.my. The Star. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
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    21. Paul, Rajes (17 February 2020). "June's august run". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
    22. "Masked captain ready for action". www.nst.com.my. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
    23. "Zii Jia feeling stressed ahead of All England". www.nst.com.my. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
    24. "Zii Jia shocks Indonesia's big gun at All England". www.nst.com.my. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
    25. "Lee Zii Jia stuns Chen Long at All England Championship". timesofindia.indiatimes.com/. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
    26. "Zii Jia's gallant run comes to an end in All-England semi-final defeat". www.thestar.com.my/. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
    27. "Zii Jia breaks into top-10 for the first time". www.nst.com.my/. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
    28. "Badminton: Incredible Lee crushes Victor to win All-England title". www.thestar.com.my. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
    29. "Chen Long spoils it again for Malaysia as he downs Zii Jia in last-16". The Sun. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
    30. "Is Zii Jia at a crossroads in his badminton career?". The Star. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
    31. Lee, Seng Foo. "Malaysia No.1 men's singles shuttler Zii Jia to leave BAM". Stadium Astro. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
    32. "Badminton: Malaysia's top star Lee Zii Jia banned after quitting national team". The Straits Times. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
    33. "Malaysian badminton ace Lee Zii Jia appeals two-year ban, says association". CNA. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
    34. "Malaysian badminton star Lee has ban lifted after 'heart-to-heart' meeting". South China Morning Post. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
    35. Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
    36. Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
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