Jakarta –
2021 All England champion Lee Zii Jia has been sentenced to a two-year ban from international tournaments following his decision to leave the Malaysian Badminton National Team.
It is known, Lee’s name began to become a public discussion because of his polemic with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
This was after he resigned from the national team on January 11. The 23-year-old, who is ranked seventh in the world, has chosen to continue his career as an independent ahead of the 2022 BWF tournament.
Citing The Star, Lee, who has been with the national team since he was 13, won the prestigious All England Open title last March and was even tipped to win a medal on his Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 last year.
In fact, many in the country hoped he would surpass the award of three-time Olympic silver medalist Lee Chong Wei.
In the process, Lee admitted to the Badminton Association of Malaysia that he could not cope with the pressures of being the country’s top badminton player. Evidently, he immediately ran aground in the round of 16 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by defending champion Chen Long (China).
At the elite badminton level, Lee himself is not the first to choose an independent path for his career. The senior men’s doubles and mixed doubles have chosen independent paths for the past few years.
However, Lee’s release turned out to be quite the attention of the public and for the Malaysian national team itself. Especially after BAM issued an unexpected sanction to him, namely a two-year ban from competing in international tournaments.
Citing the New Straits Times, BAM in its conpres said it and Lee Zii Jia had made joint efforts by holding informal talks so that they could reconsider their decision.
“However, he (Lee Zii Jia) sticks to his decision, arguing that he cannot withstand the pressure of being in the national team, as well as the tight lifestyle in the national team,” said BAM vice president Datuk Seri Jahaberden Yunoos.
“The requirements he wants are to have his own coaching team and support services, plan his own tournaments and have his own sponsors.”
“After careful consideration, BAM has taken the decision not to register Zii Jia in any international tournaments for a period of two years, effective January 18 (2022),” added Jahaberden.
This decision also sparked comments from the social media world. The world’s badminton players were not absent from reacting, one of which was Olympic gold medalist Viktor Axelsen.
“In my opinion, if a player (in this case Lee Zii Jia) feels it is better for him to follow another path where he is more independent as a player, then that is what he should do,” said Viktor.
“Only he alone knows what is best at the moment and I wish him many interesting encounters against Lee Zii Jia on the pitch in the future. All the best.”
(mcy/krs)
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