PETALING JAYA: A short stint with the national squad has given Lee Zii Jia a lift, with the Paris Olympic bronze medallist rediscovering his rhythm and confidence.
The question now is whether he should continue training with the team or return to his usual programme under his coach, Liew Daren.
Daren said he still needs to discuss with Zii Jia whether he will continue to train at the Academy Badminton Malaysia from time to time or only return when called up for national duty.
Malaysia could once again call on Zii Jia for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya from Sept 19-Oct 4.
“We haven’t discussed this yet,” said Daren when contacted. “His confidence is much better after this tournament.
“We will continue to work hard and hopefully achieve good results in the coming tournaments.”
Zii Jia was among the independent players brought in to support Malaysia’s Thomas Cup campaign.
Although he only had a few sessions at first before continuing with the eight-day centralised camp in Herning, Zii Jia felt he was able to cope well with the programme and intensity set by the national coaching set-up despite his recent injury concerns.
While Malaysia failed to end their 34-year wait for the Thomas Cup title after a 3-0 defeat to China in the quarter-finals in Horsens, Zii Jia showed encouraging signs.
The 28-year-old not only won all his matches in the group stage, but also showed he is getting back to form by defeating world No. 20 Koki Watanabe when Malaysia faced Japan in their final Group B tie.
More importantly, he came through the campaign without any injury setbacks.
It is a timely boost for Zii Jia, who is set to compete in the Thailand Open from May 12-17, where he will start from the qualifying rounds.
