WORLD No 7 Lee Zii Jia is not only happy to see youngster Jacky Kok make the team for the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC), he also hopes his teammate will enjoy a successful career as well.
Hailing from Alor Star, Zii Jia remembers the day when a young Jacky joined the Alor Star Racquet Club (ASRC), run by the father of women's doubles shuttler, Pearly Tan.
"I'm very happy that Jacky made the BATC team and for his recent performance in Europe.
"I've known him since he was a young boy because we both came through the same badminton club in Alor Star.
"Pearly's father (Tan Seng Hoe) was our first coach at ASRC," Zii Jia told reporters at the Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam yesterday.
Unlike Zii Jia and the rest of the national squad, Jacky is part of the batch that never got the chance to play in a World Junior Championship because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 20-year-old, however, did not let the lack of tournaments bring him down as he showed his class by winning one title (Swedish Open) from two finals in Europe last month.
As a result, Jacky was selected ahead of his other batch mates to make his senior team event debut this week.
"This will be the first team event for Jacky, and I hope he will gain the valuable experience he needs to find his own character.
"The faster he adapts to the senior level, the better for him," added Zii Jia, who last month quit the national team to pursue a professional career.
Meanwhile, Zii Jia admitted that he is more than confident with the rest of the singles players in the squad for the BATC, which include Ng Tze Yong, 2018 Asian junior champion Leong Jun Hao, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and Lim Chong King.
"My role as the first singles is important because the first point in any team event is crucial.
"However, we have a strong team. Tze Yong has been doing really well, and Jun Hao is a very experienced player as well.
"I believe in my team, and I know we can do well," he said.
The Malaysian men's team, who last won the Asian team event in 1965, will open their campaign on Wednesday against Singapore, who will be led by reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew.