PETALING JAYA: Olympic Games Paris 2024 bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia will begin official training with the national squad at the Academy Badminton Malaysia starting April 1.
This was confirmed by men’s singles head coach Tey Seu Bock.
“Zii Jia will join training on April 1,” said Seu Bock.
The independent shuttler will not only train alongside his national teammates but will also travel to Herning for a centralised training camp next month.
The Thomas Cup, which will be held in Horsens from April 24 to May 5, will mark Zii Jia’s fifth appearance since making his debut at the 2018 edition in Bangkok.
He featured as the second men’s singles then, behind Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei, who was also the team captain.
In the following three editions in Aarhus (2020), Bangkok (2022) and Chengdu (2024), Zii Jia played as Malaysia’s first singles.
However, with his ranking now down to world No. 80 following a lengthy injury setback last year, there is a strong possibility he could feature as the third singles behind Leong Jun Hao and Justin Hoh.
Also set to be called up for the training camp are Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin as well as men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, although they will still need to fight for their places in the Thomas Cup squad.
Also invited is Goh Jin Wei, who will strengthen the women’s singles squad for the Uber Cup.
The Thomas Cup draw sees Malaysia grouped with Japan, England and Finland in Group B, while the women’s team in the Uber Cup will face South Africa, Turkiye and six-time champions Japan.
