KUALA LUMPUR: Indeed, Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia has all the makings of becoming an Olympic champion.
However, as the men's singles shuttler explained in his recent social media posting, he is still struggling with his performance and will need to get his act right before the Paris Games in July.
World No. 10 Zii Jia cannot ignore that other top players are also eyeing the top prize in Paris.
Former England international turned pundit Ben Beckman believes the race for gold has somewhat come down to three big names — China's Shi Yu Qi, Indonesia's Jonatan Christie and Denmark's Anders Antonsen.
Despite telling Timesport last year that the men's singles event at the Paris Olympics would be an open affair, Beckman has since put his money on these three players, given their imperious form this season.
"Setting themselves apart from the rest!" posted Beckman on his Instagram account.
"These three have separated themselves from the other men's singles players, positioning themselves as the best three in the world. Therefore the current favourites for Olympic glory.
"They have done this throughout their very consistent performance this year, backed up by the fact they are currently ranked No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4, respectively.
"And what adds to this is that the current world No. 1 and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen has been having a rather torrid time as of late," he added.
True enough, not only did Yu Qi win the India Open title in January and the French Open in March, but the 28-year-old was also the star for China that won their 11th Thomas Cup title this month.
On the other hand, after reaching four World Tour finals last year (won three), Jonatan was crowned All England champion in March, while Malaysia Open winner Antonsen is the European champion in both the individual and team events.
Beckman is aware that anything can happen at the Olympics but believes at the moment, these three are the ones to beat.
"Now, there are still a few big tournaments coming up before the Paris Games, with the biggest among them being the Indonesia Open (Super 1000), so there are chances perceptions might change.
"Anything can happen at the Olympics.
"So while we don't know everything, what we do know right now is these three are your current best in the world, and as a result, must be considered as favourites for Olympic success," he said.
The World Tour resumes again next week with the Super 500 Thailand Open and the Super 500 Malaysia Masters on May 21-26.
Many top players have opted to skip these tournaments to focus on the big one, paving the way for players like Zii Jia to come out on top and gain confidence before Paris.
For the record, Zii Jia will be Malaysia's sole men's singles representative at the Olympics this year.
At the previous edition, the Kedah-born crashed out in the last 16 stage after going down in three games to eventual silver medallist Chen Long of China.
