PETALING JAYA: Expect men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia to save his best to deliver a special parting gift for his coach Wong Tat Meng at the World Tour Finals.
The Finals in Hangzhou, China, from Dec 11-15, will be the last tournament where Zii Jia will be coached by Tat Meng.
Zii Jia found some form of stability under Tat Meng when the latter was hired in July last year.
The Malaysian was a coach in Hong Kong before he was swiftly brought to restore order in Zii Jia’s career that took a hit after his former coach Indra Wijaya of Indonesia left the scene.
Under Tat Meng, the world No. 7 Zii Jia enjoyed highs and experienced lows too.
He reclaimed his top 10 spot in the world and bagged the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Paris. He also won several titles but there were many unexpected defeats to lower ranked players too.
To coach with love: Lee Zii Jia hopes to do well at the World Tour Finals for departing coach Wong Tat Meng (right).
It will be ideal for Zii Jia to show his gratitude by going all the way at the Finals.
The draw for the Finals will be carried out today, but for Zii Jia, he will be his worst enemy.
If he can play without doubting himself and control his erratic form, he can beat the other qualifiers in the Finals.
The others in the list are Anders Antonsen of Denmark; China’s Shi Yuqi and Li Shifeng, Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Indonesian Jonatan Christie.
The top four seeds are Antonsen, Yuqi, Tien-chen and Naraoka.
And without two-time OIympic Games champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, the path is open for Zii Jia and others to go for the title. Defending champion Axelsen has pulled out due to foot injury.
Meanwhile, in a statement released by Team LZJ, the professional outfit thanked Tat Meng.
“It is with a heavy heart and much gratitude that Team LZJ accept the decision of coaching director Wong Tat Meng to pursue a different phase of his coaching career.
“We thank coach Wong Tat Meng for his hard work, dedication, and most importantly his wisdom and guidance throughout his time with Team LZJ.
