Good record: Lee Zii Jia has won two of his three previous meetings against Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi.
PETALING JAYA: Professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia could be looking to capitalise on his improved world ranking as he begins his China Masters campaign today.
The former Asian champion has climbed five spots to No. 42 in the world.
While still a long way from his career-best ranking of world No. 2, the rise at least signals some progress.
That improvement could provide the extra push Zii Jia needs when he faces Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi in the first round today.
History is also on Zii Jia’s side, as he has won two of his three previous meetings against Chun-yi. Their most recent clash came at the Asian Team Championships last year, where Zii Jia emerged the winner.
Chun-yi himself has also been struggling for form of late. At the World Championships in Paris last month, his run was cut short in the second round by Indonesia’s young talent Alwi Farhan.
It was a repeat outcome at the China and Japan Opens in July, where he fell in the second round, while his campaign at the Indonesia Open in June ended even earlier with a first-round exit.
While Chun-yi has been finding it hard to produce results, Zii Jia has also suffered similar early exits at the World Championships and the Hong Kong Open last week.
The difference, however, is that the Malaysian is in the middle of a comeback phase after battling an ankle injury and mental health.
He admitted that he was still trying to rediscover that tournament feeling after being sidelined for five months by the injury.
“I hope I can find my own feeling in every game. I think this is very important,” said Zii Jia after his Hong Kong Open campaign ended in the first round last week.
If Zii Jia manages to get past Chun-yi today, it will serve as a huge morale booster for the Kedah-born shuttler as it would be his first win in six months.
His last victory came against India’s K. Srikanth in the second round of the Orleans Masters in March.
Besides Zii Jia, Leong Jun Hao will also be in action as he faces Indonesia’s top shuttler Anthony Ginting.
