KUALA LUMPUR: Another withdrawal. Lee Zii Jia has skipped five of his seven tournaments this year.
The latest was the Asian Championships in Ningbo, China, on April 8-13. Zii Jia announced his pullout on Saturday.
The others that he missed were the Malaysia Open, India Open and Indonesia Masters in January and this week’s Swiss Open.
Former international Ong Ewe Hock has urged the independent shuttler to take his time to fully recover from his ankle injury and not make a hasty comeback.
Zii Jia suffered the injury at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China in December. Despite making a comeback at the Orleans Masters and All England in the last two weeks, the world No. 9 was a pale shadow of himself, losing in the quarter-finals in France and the first round in Birmingham.
“The continuous withdrawals mean he needs a complete recovery (from injury). The pressure will mount if he competes half-baked as he may face early exits,” said Ewe Hock.
“This will invite criticism and Zii Jia must also look after his sponsors as he is a professional player.
“Let it take some time and once he returns, he should be able to play regularly without having to withdraw from tournaments.”
Ewe Hock urged Zii Jia and his fans to be patient before the shuttler can start getting closer to the form that won him the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics last August.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd