There was more of a scowl than a smile on Lee Zii Jia's face despite leading his team to victory in the President's Cup yesterday.
The World No 10 delivered what was expected as he downed Cheam June Wei 22-20, 21-18 in the first men's singles tie to help Team A to a convincing 4-1 win over Team B at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
The 22-year-old admitted he has been struggling to keep himself motivated in a time when the world badminton calendar has been badly affected by the Covid-19 situation.
"I really wasn't very satisfied with how I played today and I think I played pretty bad to be honest," said Zii Jia.
"Maybe it is because we haven't had a proper tournament in a long time and all we've been doing so far is just training.
"But I've been losing my focus a fair bit and I'm feeling quite down lately."
The Kedahan, who was supposed to lead Malaysia at next month's Thomas Cup Finals in Denmark before the tournament was called off, also admitted he needs to rediscover his competitive spirit.
"It's unfortunate regarding the Thomas Cup but it's important for us to put health first.
" I've also been in touch with Viktor (Axelsen) and he told me the situation in Denmark wasn't good.
"Even though BAM have been doing their best with these training competitions, they just lack the real tournament touch.
"But with that being said, I feel that these simulation competitions have been good and should carry on."
Despite Zii Jia's scowl and far from satisfactory performance, Team A romped their way to victory with Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi once again getting the better of World No. 9 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik 23-21, 21-13.
Ng Tze Yong, 20, who won the BAM Invitational Championships last month, repeated his feat by beating Leong Jun Hao 21-19, 21-11 in the second singles to seal the win.
"I think I played better because the team were already leading 2-0 and I was able to play a more relaxed game," said Tze Yong.
"I did beat Jun Hao last month but it definitely feels a bit more satisfying this time because he's not injured this time."
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani pulled back a point for Team B when they beat Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong 21-19, 21-14.
But Shaqeem Eiman Shahyar made it a fine finish for Team A by defeating Lee Shun Yang 21-15, 23-21.