LEE ZII JIA, touted as a successor to Lee Chong Wei, should not be distracted by petty issues and move on if he wants to be a world beater.
This was stated by BA of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director, Wong Choong Hann after Zii Jia came under fire for showing his unhappiness in the national team on social media recently.
Zii Jia, who was upset with his recent poor run, complained about financial issues and unfair treatment.This has got many fans thinking that Zii Jia is going through a hard time. And his grievances have been linked to BAM, who incidentally are going through a belt tightening exercise amid a challenging financial situation.
Choong Hann, who had a talk with 21-year-old Jii Zia, said: “First of all, I want to reassure that it is an internal issue.
“Zii Jia is not in debt nor is he involved in any betting scandal. “Let’s just say there was a breach in conduct during a tournament.
BAM have addressed the issue by giving Zii Jia and several other players a warning.
“This is something that every player must understand, it’s about professionalism. When you work for an employer, there are going to be rules and regulations to adhere to, it’s common sense.”
Choong Hann wants the Kedah-born Zii Jia to have undivided focus on his training and work towards excellence.
Choong Hann clarified that Zii Jia was not victimised and his rash act in blowing things out of proportion on social media was due to immaturity.
“I seriously think it’s a generational issue. In my era, there was no such thing.
“I hope Zii Jia learns from this episode, it’s his own doing.
“These are teething issues and he should swallow his pride and move on. Nobody victimised him ,” he added.
Choong Hann added that this has nothing to do with Zii Jia being left out of the Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan, China on April 23-28.
“No, BAM did not penalise Zii Jia by leaving him out of the BAC. We had already planned this.
“Zii Jia has already played in a number of tournaments this year and it’s time he goes back to the drawing board to focus on his training before he continues with a series of competitions.
“He has the potential and we want him to climb higher. It’s a tactical move.
“Also, we have named him for the New Zealand Open (April 30-May 5), which is the first tournament in the one-year qualifying period to offer Olympic ranking points.”