THEY didn’t give Lee Zii Jia much of a chance at the All England in Birmingham today. His rival, it is said, is too strong.
But Zii Jia was determined to rewrite the script even though his record against Indonesian Jonatan Christie is one-sided, having lost all his four previous meetings to the Asian Games champion.
It may be the first round of the prestigious All England but World No 13 Zii Jia showed no early jitters as he outplayed World No 6 Jonatan 21-15, 21-13 in 41 minutes.
Lack of consistency had always been the talented Zii Jia’s vulnerability when playing against top shuttlers but yesterday he was really on top of his game.
Amid the spectre of the coronavirus outbreak, Zii Jia remained focused, and after pulling away to a 13-9 lead in the first game, there was no looking back for the Malaysian.
Zii Jia raced to an emphatic 8-0 lead in the second game before Jonatan reduced the deficit to 4-8. But nothing much the Indonesian could do after that.
Zii Jia will play China’s Li Guang Zu, who defeated Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharaoen 21-16, 21-9, in the second round today.
Zii Jia said: “I’m happy that I finally got my revenge against Jonatan. This is my fifth time playing against him and I got to beat him.’
“As for the next round, I’ll be playing Guang Zu. I have played him before (Zii Jia beat Guang Zu in last year’s World Championships) and hopefully I can play my best.”
BAM coaching director Wong Choong Hann said Zii Jia showed today how good he can be when he is on song.
“He played well and was very composed. I think that’s the kind of calmness we want from him during matches.
“He managed to keep up with the pace of this top player (Jonatan), not just in terms of speed and physical abilities but also the technical aspect.
“This was the difference as Zii Jia could read and adjust to the technical manoeuvres of his rival. This ability will make him more confident when he plays other top players as well.
“It was a fine show from Zii Jia and we want him to continue that and stay focused in the second round.”
Zii Jia’s coach Hendrawan said the Malaysian had learnt from his previous defeats to Jonathan. “Zii Jia was confident and ready to take on Jonatan this time.”