PETALING JAYA: Former Asian champion Lee Zii Jia appears to be on the mend from his previous injury after signing up for two tournaments in September.
Based on the main and qualifying (M&Q) list, the two tournaments are the Hong Kong Masters, a Super 500 event scheduled from Sept 9 to 14, followed by the China Masters in Shenzhen from Sept 16 to 21, which carries a Super 750 status.
Also listed for the tournament is compatriot Leong Jun Hao.
Meanwhile, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin, Justin Hoh and Cheam June Wei will also compete in the Hong Kong Open, but they will have to go through the qualifying rounds first.
However, as the China Masters carries a higher status, Aidil and June Wei will not be competing, while Justin has only been placed on the reserve list.
Zii Jia’s registration for these tournaments further strengthens the belief that he has fully recovered from the right ankle ligament injury he sustained in December last year.
A short clip circulating on social media also shows Zii Jia undergoing intensive training with his coach, Yeoh Kay Bin, after five months without competitive action.
The last time he competed was at the All-England in March, where he crashed out in the first round. That, along with the Orleans Masters, were the only tournaments he played in this year before his management, TeamLZJ, announced that he would be taking an extended break due to a recurrence of his old injury.
Since then, although he has been granted a protected ranking by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), his standing has slipped to No. 52 in the world.
The Star had earlier reported that the former world No. 8 would not be withdrawing from the World Championships in Paris, despite speculation that he might do so ahead of the Aug 12 withdrawal deadline.
This is because his recurring injury had continued to trouble him, forcing him to pull out at the last minute from several tournaments, including the Japan Open and China Open last month.
