Kuala Lumpur: The President of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), Norza Zakaria has confirmed on Wednesday that Malaysia’s World No. 7 men’s singles player, Lee Zii Jia has tendered his resignation letter to the association on January 11, 2022.
Zakaria said that BAM had made various attempts to have Lee retract his resignation, however, the efforts were of no avail.
“First, I want to confirm that we have received the letter of resignation from Lee Zii Jia on 11 January,” said Zakaria.
“Of course, we are disappointed. Our council members will make a decision together as an institution and the decision will be announced this Friday,” added Zakaria.
Zakaria spoke to Malaysian media about the resignation of Lee Zii Jia (fast forward the video to 48 seconds).
BAM akan teliti surat peletakan Lee Zii Jia. pic.twitter.com/rEkx31hm92
— ASTRO ARENA (@ASTROARENA) January 19, 2022
Meanwhile, Lee told Malaysian media that he had considered the matter from all different angles before making that decision, including seeking advice from the Malaysian badminton legend, Lee Chong Wei.
“I have spoken to Datuk (Lee Chong Wei) to get his advice on various things and he did give me a lot of suggestions, both on and off the court, he taught me a lot,” said Lee to the Malaysian media.
“All this time, he really helped me a lot, so for me, he’s a very good senior, he always shares his experience with us,” added Lee.
“Because he’s a legend, so his experience is very important to me.”
“As a player, all I want is to train, play well and produce good results for Malaysia. That’s all I want.”
“I think it doesn’t matter if I’m a professional or a national player, we are all fighting for the name of Malaysia.”
“I want to stabilize my performance this year, and I want to break into the world’s top 5 rankings.”
“I can’t stop people from either supporting or not supporting me.”
“Hopefully those who support me will continue to support me, and those who don’t support me, that’s fine, I’ll just be myself,” concluded Lee.
Press conference by Lee Zii Jia.
Lee Zii Jia tetap bawa nama MALAYSIA di pentas antarabangsa 🇲🇾 🇲🇾 🇲🇾 pic.twitter.com/QcP4t58d3F
— ASTRO ARENA (@ASTROARENA) January 19, 2022
Well, guess what, the World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen seemed to have heard Lee Zii Jia’s message as he wrote on his social media to show his support for Lee.
“If a player (in this case LZJ) feels it’s best for him to follow another path where he is more independent as a player, then that is what he should do IMO. It’s his career and his life after all.
Having played against LZJ numerous times, I’m sure that no matter what, LZJ will continue to do everything he can to produce good results and continue to do his best to make Malaysians, and everyone who supports him proud.
Only he himself knows what’s best right now and I’m looking forward to hopefully having many exciting encounters against LZJ on court in the future. All the best
Not my business, but wanted to share my thoughts.”
Speaking to Bernama, Lee Chong Wei himself hoped Lee Zii Jia could continue to perform well regardless of whether he will stay in BAM or become an independent player.
