SHAH ALAM: Lee Zii Jia has dismissed talks of unveiling any secret weapon at the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) following his short training stint in South Korea.
Instead, the world No. 10 stressed that his 10-day training camp at the Badminton Korea Association (BKA) training centre in Seoul was merely to gain new insights and experience.
Zii Jia, 26, made his maiden appearance at this year's BATC on Wednesday when he took to the court as Malaysia's first singles player in the second Group B tie against Kazakhstan.
The former All-England champion, who did not play in Malaysia's 5-0 win over Brunei on Tuesday, lived up to his billing as he made short work of world No. 74 Dmitriy Panarin, winning 21-11, 21-10 in just 32 minutes.
When asked if his performance had anything to do with his Korean training programme, Zii Jia said: "To be honest, I was only there for 10 days; There is no secret weapon, nor can I improve so much.
"I went to Korea to see something different and learn something new, like their culture.
"Korea has produced a few world champions, and I wanted to see their routine.
"It's impossible to be a whole new player from such a short stint."
Zii Jia also pointed out that it was crucial for him to play in a warm-up match before the crunch tie against Taiwan on Thursday.
The final tie will decide who tops the group and heads into the quarter-finals as a seeded team.
"I can't speak for other players, but for me, I'd rather warm myself up before a tough match.
"We roughly know who I will face tomorrow. Lin Chun Yi has been progressing really well in the last two years.
"I am really looking forward to a tough but even match," added Zii Jia, who has beaten the Taiwanese world No. 21 once but lost in their last encounter at the Malaysia Masters last year.
Like Malaysia, Taiwan also thrashed Brunei 5-0 in their second Group B tie on Wednesday.