PETALING JAYA: While many of the world’s top players are skipping the Thailand Masters in Bangkok this week, men’s singles professional Lee Zii Jia is pressing on with his mission to improve his world ranking.
This is Zii Jia’s fourth consecutive tournament since returning to competition in early January at the Malaysian Open.
From 144th in the world, the 27-year-old has risen to 103rd.
He has a chance to re-enter the top 100 when he faces Belgian Julien Carragi in the first round tomorrow. Carragi is no stranger to Zii Jia, having previously met at the Paris Olympics two years ago.
Zii Jia is riding a wave of confidence after recording his first win in 10 months at last week’s Indonesian Masters and is now aiming to go as far as possible in Bangkok.
A quarter-final berth would be a significant achievement, with his last appearance at that stage coming at the Orleans Masters in March last year.
To reach that point, Zii Jia will need to get past Carragi, with a potential second round clash against Denmark’s Magnus Joannesen and a possible quarter-final against last week’s Indonesian Masters champion, Alwi Farhan, waiting. Besides Zii Jia, two other Malaysian men’s singles players will also be in action.
Sixth seed player Justin Hoh will face 2019 World Championships bronze medallist Kantaphon Wangcharoen in the first round.
Justin is under pressure after early exits in his last two tournaments, the Indian Open and Indonesian Masters.
He also faced a first round exit at last year’s Thailand Masters, losing to Zaki Abdillah of Indonesia.
Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin will take on seventh seed Kiran George of India.
Meanwhile, Eogene Ewe must go through the qualifying round against India’s Rithvik Sanjeevi, while Jacky Kok will face Indonesia’s Yohanes Marcellyno.
