PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia’s (pic) fitness will be tested when he returns to competitive action in the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris after a long injury layoff.
Zii Jia has been troubled by an ankle injury and played in only two tournaments - the Orleans Masters and All-England in March - so far this year.
The 27-year-old has to be on his toes from the start in Paris where he has a tricky first-round match against South Korea’s world No. 38 Jeon Hyeok-jin.
Hyeok-jin has troubled Zii Jia before, toppling him in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games team match.
The independent player though does have a 3-1 head-to-head record against the Korean and will be keen to claim his first win since beating India’s K. Srikanth in the Orleans Masters second round.
Zii Jia lost to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the last eight in the tourney and then suffered a first-round defeat to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long in the All-England.
His long absence from competitions has resulted in his world rankings slipping to No. 52.
If Zii Jia progresses to the second round in the world meet, he will likely go up against China’s world No. 4 Li Shifeng.
Shifeng is the favourite in his opening match against Japan’s world No. 27 Yushi Tanaka.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s other representative in the men’s singles, world No. 25 Leong Jun Hao, who will be making his debut, has an easier first match against Swiss player Tobias Kuenzi.
A win will see Jun Hao take on either Japan’s world No. 14 Kenta Nishimoto or Taiwan’s world No. 28 Wang Tzu-wei for a place in the third round.
In the women’s singles, Goh Jin Wei has a difficult first-round match against China’s Gao Fangjie while debutant K. Letshanaa will meet Hong Kong’s Saloni Mehta.
