Kuala Lumpur: After winning the 2022 Thailand Open on May 22, 2022, Malaysia’s World No. 5 Lee Zii Jia will compete in a hectic schedule starting next week at the 2022 Indonesia Masters which is set to kick off in Jakarta from Jun 7, 2022, to Jun 12, 2022.
In addition to the Indonesia Masters, Lee will also be playing at the Indonesia Open (June 14 – June 19), Malaysia Open (June 29 – July 3), Malaysia Masters (July 5 to July 10), and the Singapore Open (July 12 to July 17) taking place within next two months.
The Badminton Association of Singapore (SBA) published a statement on Tuesday stating that some of the sport’s biggest stars, including Denmark’s World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen and World No. 3 Anders Antonsen, World No. 6 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, and World No. 8 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, last but not least, the World No. 10 and reigning World Champion – Loh Kean Yew of Singapore will be competing at the 2022 Singapore Open.
“Lee, in particular, will be an exciting talent to watch. The 24-year-old is in fine form, having won two titles and making two semi-finals from four events this year,” said SBA in that statement.
However, Lee’s coach, Indra Wijaya was wary of increased expectations after Lee has won two consecutive titles in May (2022 Badminton Asia Championships, and the 2022 Thailand Open). He told Malaysian media that winning a tournament is not the only goal for Lee, furthermore, it’s also not realistic to expect Lee to win all tournaments.
“Zii Jia is not a superman, he is just a human, we cannot expect him to win every time he plays,” said Wijaya.
“He also needs to rest, it’s not the end of the world even if Zii Jia can’t win,” added Wijaya.
“We’ll evaluate his condition after the Malaysia Masters, and decide our next step.”
“But Zii Jia’s main focus would be this year’s World Championships,” continued Wijaya.
The 2022 World Championships will be held in Tokyo, Japan, from Aug 21, 2022, to Aug 28, 2022.
