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KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia (pix) revealed that he skipped the recent Chinese New Year celebration to prepare for All England, after his return from a disastrous outing in Thailand in January.
The newly crowned All-England champion said that in order to fully focus on training, he even told his family in Kedah that he was not allowed to celebrate the Chinese New Year in February.
“Actually, BAM gave all the players a break to celebrate CNY, but I decided to stay behind to focus on training. I was the only player who stayed in the camp and trained only during that period, ”he said today at a virtual press conference here.
Zii Jia’s perseverance paid off when he clinched the All England men’s singles title with a sensational 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 victory over defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in Birmingham on Sunday.
Zii Jia said that he and his coach Hendrawan felt really depressed after suffering demoralizing defeats in three consecutive tournaments in Thailand.
Zii Jia lost to second seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan in the quarterfinals of the Yonex Thailand Open before losing to Indian Sameer Verman in the first round of the Toyota Thailand Open.
He then lost all three of his matches in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals.
“I was really happy after the game (the final in England) and immediately called Hendrawan to share the moment with him. I saw him shed tears of joy after my win against Axelsen … he was so proud of me, ”he added.
Kedahan, now number eight in the world, said his confidence grew after reaching the semifinals of the Swiss Open, which preceded the All England.
“I did not expect to win the All England. I hope I can maintain my confidence, continue to train hard and prepare for the next Malaysian Open, ”he added.
He said that he would rather not be compared to badminton legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei, as everyone has their own journey.
“It is impossible to repeat the success of Chong Wei. I have my own story and a journey to follow. I want to stay focused and fight for the rest of my career, ”he said.
Zii Jia vowed to put on a good display at the Tokyo Olympics in July and didn’t want to push himself too hard by setting the gold medal as his goal.- Bernama
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