KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia has accepted the fact that he will always be compared with the great Lee Chong Wei.
The 26-year-old current national No. 1 also told the Indian media after his India Open first round victory against Canada's Brian Yang, that the position between him and Chong Wei is a little "weird" since he left the national team last year.
Following last week's disappointing first round exit at the Petronas Malaysia Open, Zii Jia made amends by scoring a 21-17, 21-19 win over Brian at the K.D. Jadhav Indoor Stadium.
The independent shuttler thus extended his winning record over the Canadian No. 1 to 5-0.
"I just told myself to stay focused on court, Brian played a very good game today.
"This is my first win this season, it's a good start for me because I've been struggling to find my best performance these few years.
"My team and I have been working a lot, so I can be more stable. Hopefully, we can see more improvement after this," Zii Jia told the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Zii Jia was asked about how he handles the pressure of being Malaysia No. 1 and if he had spoken to Chong Wei lately.
"As Malaysia's No. 1, I cannot run away from being compared with Chong Wei.
"I have matured and I know that until the end of my career, I have to deal with this.
"To be honest, after I came out (from the national team) to be a professional player, the position is kind of weird between me and him (Chong Wei).
"As you can see, there is a lot of news around, but I have a good and experienced coach, and a team that is helping me.
"I just have to keep believing in what I do," added Zii Jia who will face the winner of the match between Indonesia's Jonatan Christie and Hong Kong's Angus Ng next.
Meanwhile, the other Malaysian players who cleared the opening round on Wednesday were men's doubles Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, and mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who lost in the second round of the Malaysia Open last week, thrashed Canada's Dong Adam-Nyl Yakura 21-11, 21-5, and will face China's Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi next.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei finally got the better of Indonesia's Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari on their fourth try, with a come-from-behind 14-21, 21-11, 21-11 win.Tang Jie-Ee Wei will take on former world champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand in the second round.
It was, however, the end of the road for independent duo Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who were ousted 21-7, 21-12 by newly crowned Malaysia Open champions Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan.