KUALA LUMPUR: In his quest for Olympic glory, Lee Zii Jia will use the five tournaments leading up to the Paris Games in July to find his best form.
Apart from the Thailand Open, the world No. 10 men's singles player is scheduled to play in the Malaysia Masters this week, the Singapore Open (May 28-June 2), the Indonesia Open (June 4-9), and the Australian Open (June 11-16).
After inspiring Malaysia to their first Thomas Cup semi-finals in eight years earlier this month, Zii Jia continued his impressive run by reaching the Thailand Open final on Saturday.
The former All England champion secured his first final appearance of the year by defeating former world No. 2 Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan 18-21, 21-12, 21-13 at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok.
Speaking to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) after his semi-final match, Zii Jia, who turned professional in 2022, said: "I hope I can find my best form, performance, and confidence in the last five tournaments before I begin preparing for the Olympics.
"So far, I think it's very positive, and the progress is good."
Earlier reports had suggested that Zii Jia is working hard to improve his world ranking by mid-June to secure a good seeding at the Olympics.
So far this season, Zii Jia has made five World Tour quarter-finals and is seen as one of the dark horses in Paris.
At the previous Olympics in Tokyo (2020), Zii Jia failed to get past the last-16 stage, losing to eventual silver medallist Chen Long of China.
