KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — Lee Zii Jia, All England 2021 champ, is unsure whether he will play in this year’s edition in March after finding himself in the reserves list for the Super 1000 badminton tournament.
Based on the list of players for the world’s oldest tournament released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Zii Jia is 16th on the reserves list.
This is possibly due to the Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medallist slipping down the world ranking to 103rd.
Only the world’s top 32 shuttlers are eligible to compete in the All England Badminton Championships.
Malaysia currently have one representative in men’s singles — world No.30 Leong Jun Hao.
Zii Jia made an appearance at the Malaysia Open earlier this month after a spate of injuries since hurting his ankle at the World Tour Finals in December 2024, before returning to action at the Orleans Masters and All England in March last year.
With the ankle injury still giving him problems, Zii Jia had no choice but to take another break before returning to compete at the World Championships in Paris last August.
In September, he featured in the Hong Kong Open before withdrawing from the first round of the China Masters due to a back injury.
He then decided to focus on his recovery.
On January 6, Zii Jia made his long-awaited return to competition after a 111-day hiatus, only to face bitter disappointment as he crashed out in the opening round after losing 12-21, 17-21 to India’s Ayush Shetty.
