Zii Jia sees indie pair Yew Sin-Ee Yi as Thomas Cup material

World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia has thrown his support behind fellow independent shuttlers Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi to be called up for the Thomas Cup Finals.

The All-England champion said any deserving players who could add depth to the team should not be left out if the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) were serious about meeting their target of reaching the final.

World No. 11 Yew Sin-Ee Yi were not included in this week’s Asia Team Championships.

Yew Sin-Ee Yi have been going great guns as they have made the semi-finals in three of their last four appearances. Their most notable achievement was winning the World Championships bronze medal in Huelva, Spain, in December last year.

They were also semi-finalists at the Indonesian Masters, World Tour Finals in Bali and Indian Open in New Delhi last month.

Asked if Yew Sin-Ee Yi’s presence would beef up the current squad, Zii Jia said: “Obviously this is a decision for the coaches to make, but if (their inclusion) can strengthen the team, why not?

“The door should always be open to players who are qualified and deserving.”

It remains to be seen whether the BAM will be calling up the recently turned-pro Zii Jia and other independent shuttlers for the Finals which will be held in Bangkok from May 17-22.

Apart from Yew Sin-Ee Yi, the most obvious absentees from this week’s tourney are singles shuttlers Liew Daren and Cheam June Wei.

The BAM may stick to their singles line-up following the emergence of the ever-improving Ng Tze Yong but the same can’t be said about the doubles department.

Malaysia struggled to overcome Japan’s second-stringers in the final group match on Friday despite fielding their strongest line-up.

In what appeared to be a winnable match, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik suffered a shocking defeat to world No. 857 Ayato Endo-Yuta Takei.

World No. 17 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who slayed Olympic champions Wang Chi-lin-Lee Yang of Taiwan last year, were taken to three games by unranked Shuntaro Mezaki-Haruya Nishida before winning.

Added Zii Jia: “I don’t think we can say this is a young team anymore. Even Leong Jun Hao has played in the Thomas Cup Finals twice already. We just need to be more confident and know what we are capable of.”