PETALING JAYA: Independent men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia is fully focused on giving his team a good start in the crunch Group B match against India at the Asian Mixed Team Championships in Dubai today.
Malaysia and India are set to go head-to-head in a battle for top spot in the group.
Both teams enjoyed easy starts after thrashing hosts the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kazakhstan 5-0 respectively on Tuesday.
Malaysia and India were due to face Kazakhstan and the UAE respectively late yesterday.
While pleased with the start his team made, world No. 4 Zii Jia, who is also team captain, acknowledged that the hard work starts against India today.
“So far, everything has been good here and I’m just trying to get better and better,” said Zii Jia in an interview with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
“We know that the important match is against India.
“Winning the first point for the team is important as it increases the confidence of the team.
“So, I will focus more on the upcoming match.’’
The 24-year-old will face either world No. 9 H. S. Prannoy or world No. 11 Lakshya Sen.
Zii Jia came out on top in his only encounter against Prannoy so far in the 2021 Thailand Open.
Lakshya, meanwhile, holds a slender 2-1 advantage over Zii Jia after beating him in the 2016 Indian International Series and 2022 All-England.
Zii Jia did get his first win over Lakshya in the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup last year.
The Malaysian is trying to make amends after an underwhelming start to the year that saw him suffer early-round exits in the Malaysian Open, Indian Open and Indonesian Masters.
Besides Zii Jia, Malaysia will also be banking on the doubles pairs to deliver the points.
In the men’s doubles, Malaysia have two strong pairs in reigning world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and world No. 8 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.
Women’s doubles pair and world No. 5 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah will also be favourites against India’s world No. 19 Treesa Jolly-Gayathri Gopichand.
Pearly-Thinaah have not lost to Treesa-Gayathri in their four meetings so far.
