KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the criticism thrown his way, Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia has come out to prove he is not cutting corners.
In fact, the world No. 10 men's singles player has taken his training programme up a notch.
On Saturday, Zii Jia, 26, shared a video log on his official Team LZJ social media, offering a glimpse into his intense training sessions with the Badminton Korea Association (BKA) in Jincheon.
The former All England champion, who has come under the microscope since leaving the BA of Malaysia (BAM) in 2022, participated in rigorous drills alongside Korean national players.
It is understood that Zii Jia even trained under harsh South Korean temperatures, which dipped below negative five degrees Celsius on certain days.
"It was an awesome experience, one that we are eternally grateful for to BKA.
"Here's the behind the scenes look inside BKA's training base in Jincheon, Seoul, by Team LZJ's strength and conditioning coach, Lim Joe Heang.
"Looking forward to get back into action and to all who are celebrating, Happy Chinese New Year," read the caption to his post.
It is learnt the opportunity to train at BKA's base was facilitated by Team LZJ's head coach, Wong Tat Meng, who spent about four years with the Korean national body before joining the Hong Kong national team in 2022.
While the Paris Olympics in July remains Zii Jia's No. 1 priority this year, first order of business back home would be the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) in Selangor next week.
The Malaysian men's team, who won their maiden BATC crown two years ago, will open their Group B campaign against Brunei on Tuesday.
Others in the group are Taiwan and Kazakhstan.
Only the top two teams from each group advance to the quarter-finals, with the top four earning spots in the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in April.
However, based on Malaysia's ranking, they have all but secured their spot in the Thomas Cup in China on April 27-May 5 in China.
