KUALA LUMPUR: Will 2024 be a successful year for Lee Zii Jia?
The 26-year-old men's singles player sure hopes so, as he intends to kick-start the season on a strong note, beginning with the Super 1000 Malaysia Open this week.
Following a mediocre season last year, Zii Jia told the press on Sunday that he has been training really hard the past one month to shake the monkey off his back.
This includes training at the beach once a week under his coach, Wong Tat Meng.
According to Zii Jia, the new form of beach sand training has helped him feel lighter on the court, and it is now up to him to convert it into results.
After suffering 13 early exits (including the second round) from 18 World Tour events last year, Zii Jia wants a change of fortune.
"For the past one month, I've been training hard with my coach (Tat Meng). Training on the beach is part of the programme.
"This method is new to me, but I've been maintaining it by training at the beach once a week.
"I feel lighter on the court, so hopefully, I will be able to translate it into results," Zii Jia said after testing the courts at Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
The former All England champion, who crashed out in the first round last year, will face China's Lu Guang Zu in the opening round on Tuesday.
On paper, world No. 11 Zii Jia will start as the favourite, having defeated the Chinese world No. 19 four times in five previous meetings.
"Nobody wants to lose, especially in front of the home fans.
"I am also not the only one training, the rest are training too. What's important is how I handle and manage the pressure.
"It's a new year, and my goal remains the same, that is to record better results consistently.
"It's the Olympic year, so I want to qualify for that, try to get seeded, and then do well," added Zii Jia.
The other Malaysian in the fray is world No. 15 Ng Tze Yong.
Tze Yong, also fighting to qualify for the Paris Olympics in July, will play Japan's Koki Watanabe in the first round.
For the record, former world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei remains the last Malaysian to win the Malaysia Open men's singles crown, which he achieved in 2018, one year before announcing his retirement.