PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia made a big leap in the world rankings, moving up 15 spots to No. 67 following his outing at the Thomas Cup in Horsens, Denmark, last week.
The 28-year-old won all three of his matches in straight sets at the group stage in Horsens before Malaysia’s 0-3 elimination by China in the quarter-finals.
Zii Jia’s performance and boost in rankings are a good indication that the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist is getting his rhythm back on court.
However, teammate Leong Jun Hao saw his ranking drop one spot to world No. 26.
Jun Hao admitted that the outing in Horsens was a low point in his career as, being Malaysia’s first singles player, he did not live up to expectations and fell in all three of his matches.
Justin Hoh and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin remained at world No. 44 and No. 51, respectively.
Meanwhile in the men’s doubles, there were no changes for Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (No. 2) and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (No. 6), but Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani saw their ranking drop two spots to No. 9.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin only played and won one match together in Horsens against Finland, before Izzuddin was fielded to form a scratch pair with Soh Wooi Yik against Japan.
Wooi Yik-Izzuddin lost to Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami in the final Group B tie.
In the women’s singles, K. Letshanaa and Wong Ling Ching each moved up one spot to world No. 32 and No. 36, respectively, while Goh Jin Wei took a step down to No. 54.
Siti Zulaika Azmi took a big step as she moved four rungs up to No. 85.
Women’s doubles pair Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan got a boost to their rankings as they now sit 131st, moving 12 places up.
The young pair stood out after taking down world No. 7 Japanese pair Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi in their final Group B tie, contributing the only point in Malaysia's 1-4 loss to Japan.
Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting bumped up two spots to No. 20, while Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah remain world No. 2.
Pearly sat out the Uber Cup due to a back injury, with Thinaah forming a scratch pair with Ong Xin Yee for two of their group stage matches.
