Zii Jia may bump into Momota in a repeat of last year’s All-England quarter-final clash

Better catch up: Kento Momota (right) still holds an 8-2 advantage in the head-to-head record against Lee Zii Jia.

PETALING JAYA: A rocky path awaits world No. 7 Lee Zii Jia in his bid to retain the All-England crown from March 15-20.

If all goes according to script, the 23-year-old will face off against world No. 2 Kento Momota in a repeat of last year’s quarter-finals at the Arena Birmingham.

Momota has yet to hit top form since returning from a lengthy layoff last year but the two-time world champion remains a force to be reckoned with.

After a shocking group stage exit from the Tokyo Olympics, Momota redeemed himself by reaching at least the semi-finals in three out of the four World Tour tournaments.

He won the Indonesian Masters without dropping a single game and was runner-up to world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the Denmark Open.

Zii Jia knows very well that he has plenty to prove after forcing a departure from the national team to become an independent shuttler, where he cited pressure and a regimented training programme as the reasons behind his decision.

Hence, a successful title defence in a major event like the All-England will be a perfect justification.

Zii Jia steered Malaysia to a historic title at last week’s Badminton Asia Team Championships but admitted he was nowhere near his best after being stretched to deciding game in three of the four matches played.

Fortunately, Zii Jia will get to gauge his performance at the German Open, which is taking place a week before the All-England.

In his memorable title-winning run last year, Zii Jia had finally overcome Momota for the first time after seven attempts.

The morale-boosting win saw him go all the way to beat Dutch surprise package Mark Caljouw in the last four and then prevailed 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 against Axelsen in an epic final that lasted one hour and 14 minutes.

Zii Jia also met Momota on three more occasions in the latter part of last year but managed to win only once during the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup in Finland.

Zii Jia’s two defeats were in the group stage of the Sudirman Cup and Thomas Cup Finals in Denmark. Momota still boasts a superior 8-2 advantage in their head-to-head record.

Zii Jia, seeded sixth, faces a tricky opening round against Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto but should face little trouble to reach the second round where he would most likely face the ever-improving Canadian Brian Yang.

The other notable opponents in Zii Jia’s path in the bottom half include world No. 3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark, reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long and Indian Open champion Lakhsya Sen.

Antonsen must be cursing his luck after landing Kean Yew for his opening hurdle.

Liew Daren, the other Malaysian in the fray, faces Tomas Junior Popov of France. If he advances, he would probably take on fourth seed Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan in the last 16.

Reigning Olympic champion and top seed Axelsen will start his quest to reclaim the All-England title he last won in 2020 against India’s B. Sai Praneeth.

He can expect a stiff challenge in the upper half coming from Indonesia’s Thomas Cup winning duo Anthony Ginting and Jonatan Christie, Tien-chen as well as a rejuvenated K. Srikanth, the World Championships silver medallist for India.