LEE Zii Jia

General
GOING INDEPENDENT
In January 2022 he left the Malaysian national training programme to become an independent player. The Badminton Association of Malaysia [BAM] initially banned him from competing internationally for two years, due to a breach of contract, but the ban was lifted soon afterwards. "I am happy that we are now resolving this issue with the BAM. I think the most important thing is results. When results come sponsors will come. That's the reality. For myself, I will focus on results, other things will automatically follow. I have to say that the most comfortable place is always the national team because they have the funds, and you don't worry about the money. You just focus on training, but turning professional, you have to worry about sponsors, you have to worry about funds. So for me, I would like to take up this challenge." (SPOTV Asia YouTube channel, 27 Feb 2023; bwfworldtour, 30 Mar 2022; malaysiakini, 27 Jan 2022; olympics, 25 Jan 2022, 20 Jan 2022; Facebook page, 25 Jan 2022; channelnewsasia男子棍术, 24 Jan 2022)

DEALING WITH PRESSURE
He admits that he initially found it difficult to deal with comparisons to Malaysian badminton player Lee Chong Wei, who retired in 2019. "Since the beginning, everybody has said I am the next Lee Chong Wei, that I am going to replace him, it made me [feel] pressure. But slowly I have become more mature. I am starting to accept the pressure and turn it into motivation. I looked for Chong Wei after he retired and he gave me a lot of advice. He used to be the nation's number one so he absorbed all the media pressure, he took pressure off all of us. When he retired I realised it was really tough to be in his position." (kompas, 23 Jan 2022; astroawani, 17 Apr 2021; stadiumastro, 14 Jul 2020; olympicchannel男子棍术, 21 Jun 2020)