KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said today she would meet with badminton ace Lee Zii Jia tomorrow to discuss his ongoing slump.
She said it was still too soon to know if moving back to the Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) was the best move for the world number four after he left them nearly two years ago.
“I'll be meeting him tomorrow but it's premature at this juncture to say if returning to ABM is the best option for him,” Yeoh said at a press conference here.
“He is a special athlete, one of the best in the world and the pressure he is under to perform is so great. That's why some of the comments made towards him are not fair.
“In addition some of the news reports about him are not healthy and there's so much written because people really want to know what he's doing,” she added.
Yeoh said she wants the best for the Kedahan and there are no fixed formulas for success.
However, she said she does not want any regrets later.
“We want to give them everything they need within reason so we have no regrets. Worst case scenario is an athlete can win the gold but we had roadblocks along the way that we did not address,” she added.
Lee began the 2023 season without qualifying for the quarter-finals of all four tournaments he participated in when he was eliminated in the first round in Malaysia Open, followed by a second round in the India Open, Indonesia Masters and the latest German Open.
In March he failed to defend his All-England Open title after losing to Shi Yu Qi in the semi-finals.
