Title: Malaysian Men’s Badminton Players Face Defeats at Hangzhou Asian Games
Date: 07/10/2023
(Hangzhou News on the 7th) – Lee Chong Wei, an esteemed figure in Malaysian badminton, provided an assessment of the performance of Malaysia’s two men’s singles players, Lee Zii Jia and Huang Zhiyong, at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Unfortunately, both players faced defeats in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
World number 16 men’s singles player, Lee Zii Jia, was defeated by Burano, the seventh-ranked Indian star. Despite the loss, Chong Wei commended Zii Jia’s improvement, highlighting his changed gameplay style, which now focuses on patience and engaging in multi-shot confrontations. Chong Wei expressed hopes for Zii Jia to continue progressing and regain his confidence as he seeks to reach new heights in his career.
On the other hand, Huang Zhiyong, currently ranked 19th in the world, lost to Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, the new world runner-up and third-ranked player globally. Chong Wei disclosed that he had discussed with Zhiyong and his coach to identify areas of improvement. While Zhiyong’s strategy had shown improvement, he still needed to strengthen certain aspects, including his speed and physical strength. Chong Wei observed that Zhiyong struggled to keep up with Naraoka’s pace in the second game, acknowledging the need for further development.
Due to a demanding schedule, Chong Wei acknowledged the limited time for Zhiyong to make necessary adjustments before his upcoming competitions. After the Asian Games, Zhiyong is set to fly to Finland for the Super 500 tournament as he aims to accumulate Olympic points and improve his rankings.
Discussing the defeat of the Xie-Su combination in doubles, Chong Wei attributed it to a failed strategy and the opponents’ superior offense and speed. Accepting the defeat, Chong Wei emphasized the importance of understanding the reasons behind losses and focusing on future competitions, particularly the Paris Olympics scheduled for next year.
Chong Wei also noted that India had a good understanding of Malaysia’s playing style, choosing to focus on play in the backcourt rather than the frontcourt. This tactic posed challenges for the Malaysian doubles team, Dingfeng and Weiyi.
The competitive world of badminton constantly presents challenges, and Chong Wei encouraged the players to learn from their defeats and channel their efforts towards future tournaments, including the Paris Olympics, where Malaysia aims to achieve success.
Photographed by: Li Jincai.