Badminton News: Freelance men’s singles badminton player Lee Zii Jia is fully focused on giving his team a head start in their Group B match against India at the Asian Mixed Tag Team Championships in Dubai today today.

Malaysia and India will face off in the battle for the top spot in the group.

Both teams got off to an easy start after beating hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kazakhstan 5-0 each on Tuesday. Malaysia and India also won against Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates respectively last night.

Although happy with his side’s start, world number 4 Zii Jia, who is also the team’s captain, admitted the hard work started against India today.

“So far so good here and I’m just trying to get better and better,” Zii Jia said in an interview with Badminton Association Malaysia (BAM).

“We know the important game is against India. Winning the first point for the team is important because it increases the confidence of the team. So, I will focus more on the upcoming games.

The 24-year-old is expected to face world number 9 HS Prannoy or world number 11 Lakshya Sen.

Zii Jia emerged victorious in his only encounter against Prannoy so far at the 2021 Thailand Open.

Lakshya, meanwhile, has a narrow 2-1 lead over Zii Jia after beating him in the 2016 India International Series and 2022 All-England.

Lee Zii Jia picked up his first win over Lakshya in the Thomas Cup quarter-finals last year.

The Malaysian is trying to redeem himself after a disappointing start to the year which saw him eliminated in the early rounds of the Malaysian Open, Indian Open and Indonesian Masters 2023.

Apart from Zii Jia, Malaysia will also rely on pairs of doubles to provide points.

In men’s doubles, Malaysia have two strong pairings consisting of reigning world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and world number 8 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.

Pair of ladies’ doubles and world number 5 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah will also be the favorite against India’s world number 19 pair Treesa Jolly-Gayathri Gopichand.

Pearly-Thinaah has never lost to Treesa-Gayathri in their four encounters so far.

Article tags: Lee Zii Jia, India, Asian Badminton Championships 2023