LEE Zii Jia’s run of excellent outcomes on the Australian Open got here to an finish in a three-set SF with WENG Hong Yang. What are crucial classes from this match for him and his followers?
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As Group LZJ launched into their flight to Sydney final week, it was essential that Coach WONG and Darren Liew supported their participant. Amid the storm of media criticism that usually swirls round him, they needed to embody the attention of the storm, offering tactical evaluation and unwavering confidence in his means to beat his challenges.
Earlier than the competitors began – after a dismal collection of early exits – plus a break to recharge and recalibrate, I feel the prospect of reaching the semi-finals of an S500 match would have been a tantalizing glimpse of a brighter horizon .
When he took to court docket in R32 to face fellow Malaysian LEONG Jun Hao, the largest concern was his latest behavior of leaving early, stemming from a mixture of impatience, good opponents and unhealthy luck. Nevertheless, plot twist! This time he modified the script. The match didn’t begin notably nicely: his play was marred by errors: his vary was out and he misjudged the circumstances within the area. LJH took the primary set and disappointment was looming. Nevertheless, set two and a small enchancment in his contact and a few misleading pictures emerged. He was persistent and leveled to 1 set. His momentum continued and in a powerful show of psychological braveness he took victory in simply over an hour.
R16 was one other lengthy three-set match, this time towards Indian Nationwide Champion Mithun Manjunath. Zii Jia felt extra comfy with the circumstances and noticeably higher on the entrance pitch. Though it wasn’t a stunning efficiency, he rose to the problem and was months into his first quarter-final. It was encouraging to see him discover an additional gear at 16-16 within the remaining set. MM resisted and fought again exhausting, however he could not break LZJ’s resolve.
And so a brand new compatriot battle ensued, this time towards the ever-improving NG Tze Yong. Malaysian badminton followers are lucky to have two wonderful MS. NTY’s performances on the Commonwealth Video games and on the All England this yr confirmed his tenacity and undemonstrative self-belief. He’s such a tenacious competitor that it was crucial for LZJ to win in twos if he had any hope of progressing. He misplaced the primary set in ominous style and the second set was on a razor’s edge, however Zii Jia didn’t give in and finally introduced 26-24 further factors. It was heartwarming to see his dedication to take the match to a 3rd set. The benefit was his and he took the rating 21-19.
4 early exits in a row for this match, however this time he broke the sample and reached the SF. After his defeat, he revealed in an interview with the BWF that taking part in as an underdog had helped him. He can take so many positives from this week. Towards WENG Hong Yang, he confirmed a willingness to make use of his aggression to dominate the web; his motion was fluid and his pictures had been sharp. Notably, he hasn’t traveled deep in a match in so lengthy and this shall be nice for enhancing his match stamina.
What can we anticipate in Copenhagen on the World Championships? Realistically, the problem stays consistency. Nevertheless, he and his group are engaged on the toolkit to rework himself into a greater participant. The journey is simply starting.
in the event you appreciated this, take a look at my article on LZJ and Coach Wong https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2023/07/29/lee-zii-jia-and-plan-b/
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