PETALING JAYA: Expectations might not be high on men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia in the World Championships but don’t rule him out just yet.
Zii Jia will be competing in his first tournament in five months from Aug 25-31 in Paris after struggling with an ankle injury this year.
While the independent player is expected to be rusty after last playing in the All-England in March, former shuttler Tan Boon Heong feels that he could pull off something special if he can get past the first two rounds.
Zii Jia, who has seen his rankings drop to No. 52 in the world due to his long absence from competitions, will open his campaign against South Korea’s world No. 38 Jeon Hyeok-jin.
A win could see him go up against China’s world No. 4 Li Shifeng for a place in the third round.
"For now, Zii Jia’s chances in Paris remains a question mark. We don’t know how is his current physical condition," said Boon Heong.
"All the fans are hoping he can get a good result. He has not played in competitions for a long time and will be trying to get back the tournament feeling.
"For me, the first and second rounds will be very important for him. If he can find a way past these rounds, he could pull off something special."
If Zii Jia can overcome Shifeng especially, it will give him a huge confidence boost and could set-up a meeting against another Chinese, world No. 11 Lu Guangzu in the third round.
The Paris Olympics bronze medallist showed that he has recovered from his ankle issue after releasing a video of him unleashing his trademark jumping smashes in training in social media last week.
Zii Jia will next be keen to show that he is well and truly back with a positive outing in the world meet.
The 27-year-old’s best performance in the prestigious event so far came in the 2021 edition in Huelva, Spain where he made it into the quarter-finals before going down to Denmark’s Anders Antonsen.
In the last two editions in 2022 and 2023, Zii Jia lost in the third round.
Meanwhile, Malaysia will also be represented in the men’s singles by world No. 25 Leong Jun Hao, who will be making his debut in the competition.
Jun Hao should get past Switzerland’s Tobias Kuenzi in the first round before a possible meeting against either Japan’s world No. 14 Kenta Nishimoto or Taiwan’s world No. 28 Wang Tzu Wei in the second round.
