Is Lee Zii Jia the next badminton World No. 1?

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Malaysian star shuttler Lee Zii Jia is poised to be the next badminton World No. 1, after being ranked a career high of World No. 2 in the BWF World Rankings. The 24-year-old is currently behind top-ranked, defending Olympic and World Champion Victor Axelsen of Denmark. According to Malaysian veteran Lee Chong Wei, who held the top spot for 199 weeks from August 2008 to June 2012, Zii Jia can dethrone Axelsen with hard training, good planning, and injury avoidance.

The young shuttler himself has revealed at an interview that he wants to change Malaysia’s history by winning its first Olympic gold medal and world championship, while tackling the pressure to perform by using the stress as motivation and listening to music.

In 2022, Lee Zii Jia has actually had a mixed year, which has nevertheless propelled him to the second spot with several losses including at the French Open in the round of 32, at the Denmark Open final, at the All-England in the semi-final and at the World Championships in the round of 16. However, his game has progressively been more disciplined and mature, with his ranking aided by his prolificplaying of tournaments, while battling fatigue from extensivetravelling.

This has prompted him to consequently focuson key tournaments, with the young player opting not to play in the Commonwealth Games or the South-East Asian games. Zii Jia has also defeated Axelsen twice in the past, at the Korean Open in 2019, and then at the 2021 All-England final, and definitely has what it takes to be the next World No. 1.