KUALA LUMPUR: Men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia is finally ready to take up a new coach to improve his struggling fortunes.The 25-year-old has gone without a coach since unceremoniously dropping Indonesian Indra Wijaya from his team last November.
Despite repeated calls for the Kedahan to seek help, Zii Jia has insisted on striking out on his own, with veteran Liew Daren serving as a sparring partner-cum-assistant coach.However, his fortunes on court have certainly taken a sharp dip this year.
He started the year ranked No 2 in the world but has since dropped to No 8 following several early exits on the Badminton World Federal (BWF) Tour.There was a slight reprieve when he reached back-to-back semi-finals at the Swiss Open and All England in March.
But he suffered a new blow after being dumped from the first round of the Asian Championships last month.That has led to fresh calls for Zii Jia to appoint a coach.
And with the Olympic qualifying period now underway, the one-time All England winner has revealed that he is now in the process of appointing a coach."My team, mainly my sister (Zii Yii), have had talks with coaches," said Zii Jia.
"Unfortunately, we're still in the process of negotiating, so I can't reveal who it is at the moment."It will be a process because I would also want to know what the coach's plans for me going forward are, and we'll have to see how we can work it out.
"While nothing is confirmed yet, I certainly hope to get it sorted as soon as possible especially now with the Olympic qualifying underway," added Zii Jia who is currently with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) undergoing centralised training for the Sudirman Cup.
