PETALING JAYA: Once beaten twice shy.
That will be the case for professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia as he tries his best to avoid another last 16 defeat in the Olympic Games in Paris starting on July 26.
Three years ago, Zii Jia suffered heartbreak when he went down 21-8, 19-21, 5-21 to China’s then reigning champion Chen Long in the same stage in the last edition of the Olympics in Tokyo.
In the draw released by the World Badminton Federation (BWF) yesterday, he has been handed with a tricky path, as he may meet world No. 9 Anthony Ginting of Indonesia in a bid to reach the quarter-finals.
Zii Jia is in Group G along with Spain’s Pablo Abian and Sri Lanka’s Viren Nettasinghe while Anthony will play homester Toma Popov and United States’ Howard Shu in Group H.
Only the group winners will reach the round of 16.
World No. 7 Zii Jia should have no problems to clear his group while Anthony may face a tougher time against world No. 22 Popov, who will be buoyed by the home support.
The former All-England, however, is in good shape but he has poor record against Anthony, having won only once in five meetings.
Zii Jia will enter the showpiece event on good form after capturing the Australian Open in Sydney last month.
He also won the Thailand Open and finished runners-up in the Malaysian Masters in May.
Zii Jia has been gearing up for the Olympics by sparring for a week in Singapore with Thailand’s reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Singapore’s 2021 world title winner Loh Kean Yew and Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.
The 2021 All-England champion remains one of Malaysia’s best bets for a medal in badminton along with men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who captured bronze in their debuts in Tokyo, will need to wait a bit longer to learn their draw after French pair Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar earned a last minute entry to the tournament after a Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) hearing.
Corvee-Labar reported a miscalculation in their qualifying rankings and succeeded in their appeal.
The pair will now join teammates Toma and Christo Popov in the competition in a boost for the hosts.
