YOURSAY | Let Zii Jia go and find his own path

YOURSAY | BAM should look at it positively and wish him well instead.

Top national shuttler Lee Zii Jia resigns from BAM

While BAM vents at Zii Jia's exit, world No 1 shuttler shows support

PinkLynx6432: National shuttler Lee Zii Jia's break-up with Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is not unexpected following his sometimes erratic performances in several tournaments and sudden withdrawals midway even after solid preparations.

There’s also the untenable pressure on Zii Jia by the badminton crazy-for-success Malaysian public and BAM comparing him with former No 1 player Lee Chong Wei and pushing him to achieve Chong Wei's seemingly unachievable performance targets, and his epitomic 2021 All England success when he was crowned singles champion.

Zii Jia and Chong Wei are starkly different from each other in terms of style of play, match temperament, mental approach and focus, endurance and stamina, playing to strengths and adjusting to the opponent's playing style.

Nevertheless, Zii Jia did not do too badly as he is currently ranked seventh in Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking.

BAM said they want to take him to greater heights and be as successful as Chong Wei. Zii Jia, however, said his main target is to be the best in his career and to stabilise his performance.

I see contrasting statements here. Do this reflect a poor understanding of BAM's approach in coaching Zii Jia, who is apparently short of confidence after his epitomic victory in the All England last year?

Zii Jia is very different from Chong Wei. Period. Stop comparing them and trying to prod Zii Jia to follow in Chong Wei's footsteps. At this moment, he just can’t. He still hasn't got it altogether.

He certainly needs a sports psychologist to calm him down, be more relaxed and not be highly strung, and to allow his stamina to pace rallies and to persevere and fight for crucial points so as to stage winning comebacks.

So, over to you, Zii Jia, and hopefully you can manage yourself better than BAM. I see a rough road ahead for you as you need backup and a good and understanding coach. To everyone else, Zii Jia is not Chong Wei and vice versa. Give him a break.

Dr Suresh Kumar: Zii Jia has every right to decide his future. He has done his part for the country and BAM should appreciate that. Just take a look at some of our veteran sportsmen and sportswomen.

Most of them are left to their own devices in their old age. By the way, he is still representing the country, donning the national colours and carrying the Malaysian flag, so what is the problem with BAM president Norza Zakaria?

In the first place, did Norza play any sports in his life? If he did, at what level? Shame on him to threaten Zii Jia.

VioletFish0943: Something is definitely not right with BAM and the government in the manner the sportsman and woman are being managed. And for the matter, even the manner the country itself is being managed.

We may just as well give up competing in sports internationally - see how our football and hockey teams have been performing lately.

Mosquitobrain: Indeed. Frankly speaking, politicians should stay away from sports. If sportsmen/women perform well, you do not need politicians to look for sponsors. They'll come lining up for you.

Politicians have no contributions; they are just hungry for the limelight. Zii Jia has no future staying with BAM.

OlympusDewa: Malaysia sports management is bad. Zii Jia clearly said he was being pressured to play like Chong Wei.

Everyone knows Chong Wei played all tournaments and ended up being banned for taking drugs - drugs that were supposed to speed up his recovery of injuries. Zii Jia doesn’t want to go that route.

BrownCheetah9736: I agree. The whole BAM and the coaching structure is a mess. We have patrons, politicians, sponsors, former players and about every Tom, Dick, and Harry interfering with the coaching set-up, the players, their schedule and their tournaments.

Norza, BAM secretary-general Kenny Goh and the entire management should resign en masse. They have been at it for years and now; even India, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan are ahead of us.

We currently have a mix of five Indonesian and local coaches coaching different players. It is so convoluted that the players don’t even know who is coaching whom.

We have had Han Jian, Yang Yang, Morten Frost and Park Joo Bong as coaches and all of them have left disappointed and cited interferences for their departure. Joo Bong is now the head coach of Japan.

To add salt to injury, our local former players like Lee Wan Wah, Choong Tan Fook, Tan Kim Her, Jeremy Gan, Wong Tat Meng, etc, are coaching overseas and have laid the groundwork and even brought success to India, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

So yes, something is very wrong here.

YellowCat1156: BAM must be really desperate to say such things to an athlete who has devoted much of his career under them.

Sure, BAM funded his development, and I am certain Zii Jia is grateful for that. But there comes a time an athlete needs to change his or her perspective in order to improve and progress further.

Describing Zii Jia as akin to an ungrateful sibling and threatening him with possible sanctions is uncalled for, and in my opinion, very unprofessional.

Hmmmmmmmm: I thought the taxpayers were the ones who paid for his training, etc? So, if taxpayers don't mind, who is BAM to mind?

Athletes have to move on if they feel they are not improving. Haven't you heard of the saying about doing the same things over and over again but expecting different results is madness?

You should be thankful that he is still interested in playing and hopefully be good enough to represent us in future after he finds his own path.

Has BAM produced any world or Olympic champions? Perhaps Zii Jia has found a better coach outside the country?

Why don't you look at it positively and wish him well instead? That way if he does indeed improve, you can also take some credit for not standing in his way. It is his job and his life.

I am sure that if somebody offers you a much better job, you will also leave. How would you feel then if your employer tells you that you are ungrateful?

Citizen_Zero: Indeed, they’re using the ‘berhutang budi’ charge. We have not heard any statements at all from Zii Jia other than that he resigned, and all BAM is doing is talking bad about him.

That shows a lot already about the intentions and unprofessionalism of BAM. Saying "thank you" and "all the best" are not enough. Did they even say that?

Leave them, Zii Jia, and go play tournaments and win or lose on your own terms. We support you. 

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