Lee Zii Jia - AFP
BEING an independent player is no easy feat in Malaysia. They have to find their own funding, look for their own full-time coaches, training centres, sparring partners and even have to pay for support services like physiotherapists.
In some cases, even sponsors set periodic conditions before coming up with funds.
Despite all that, men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia (pic) has proven that independent players can succeed on the biggest stage. He really can say “I did it my way”.
The Malaysian, who even rejected a place in the country’s Road to Gold programme, became the only the second professional player to win a medal for Malaysia in the Olympics.
Datuk Rashid Sidek, then a member of the Nusa Mahsuri outfit, also captured a bronze in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
An emotional Zii Jia had declared that he deserved the medal after all his struggles. In fact, he vowed to return stronger in the 2028 Los Angeles Games to fight for the gold.
“I went through a lot of challenges since becoming an independent player (in 2022) and wanted to prove myself,” said Zii Jia.
“I will come back stronger for the 2028 Los Angeles Games and get the gold.”
The 26-year-old Zii Jia came from behind to beat India’s 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 at Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle in the playoff for the bronze on Monday.
He showed great determination and fighting spirit to not just come from a game down but also to recover after losing 14-21, 15-21 to Thailand’s eventual silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semi-final a day earlier.
The world No. 7 had left the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) set-up in 2022 to turn independent.
It was a decision that saw him face a lot of ups and downs. After a string of disappointing results, Zii Jia Zii Jia even quit badminton at one point last year, to try and rediscover his passion for the sport.
This year, his form improved under his new coach, Wong Tat Meng, who replaced Indra Wijaya of Indonesia.
He captured the Thailand and Australian Open titles and reached the final of the Malaysian Masters for the first time before finishing runner-up to Denmark’s current two-time Olympic gold medallist Viktor Axelsen.
Tat Meng praised Zii Jia’s resilience and character in a heartfelt message in social media.
“Congratulations to Zii Jia for the first Olympic medal. You deserve it,” he said.
“You came back after losing the first game, it shows your determination and never say die attitude. Furthermore, you lifted your self up from yesterday’s (Sunday) defeat. You swallowed your pain like a man and fought back in today’s (Monday) bronze medal match.”
Zii Jia himself said the defeat by Kunlavit had “slapped him awake from a very good dream”.
“I was blank. I could not eat well, sleep well after that. I had wanted to prove myself because the medal that Malaysia have been missing is the gold – we have bronzes and silvers,” said Zii Jia, who became the third Malaysian to win an Olympic medal in the men’s singles after Rashid and Datuk Lee Chong Wei.
