Lee Zii Jia

Lee Zii Jia ASK (Chinese: 李梓嘉; pinyin: Lǐ Zǐjiā; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lí Chú-ka, born 29 March 1998), often referred to by his initials LZJ, is a Malaysian badminton player.

[9] In November 2016, Lee won a bronze medal in the World Junior Championships after losing to Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in the semifinals.

In the same month, he advanced to the final of India International Series but was defeated by Lakshya Sen.[9] In February 2017, Lee reached the semifinals of the Thailand Masters, where he lost to Kantaphon Wangcharoen.

[17] In November, he was forced to retire in the second round of the China Open, and decided to withdraw as well from the next tournament in Hong Kong, due suffering from food poisoning and fever.

[30] In March, Lee won his first Super 1000 tournament at the All England Open, defeating the defending champion Viktor Axelsen by a score of 30–29, 20–22, 21–9.

[31] In July, in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Lee took part in the men's singles and won against Artem Pochtarov with a score of 21–5 and 21–11.

[33] Lee ended the year at the 2021 World Championships in Huelva, where he retired from his quarterfinal match against eventual bronze medalist, Anders Antonsen.

[36] With fellow players and the general public expressing dissatisfaction on BAM's decision, Lee appealed against the ban on 24 January 2022.

[38] In May, Lee won his first title of the year, the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships, defeating Indonesia's Jonatan Christie 21–17, 23–21 in straight sets.

On 22 May 2022, Lee won his first BWF World Tour Super 500 title at the 2022 Thailand Open, defeating China's Li Shifeng with a rubber set score of 17–21, 21–11, 23–21 in 70 minutes.

[43] Claiming injury, he decided to skip the Commonwealth Games and focus on the upcoming World Championships which would be held in August.

In the round robin stage, he won against Bharath Lateesh of the United Arab Emirates and lost against Prannoy H. S. of India.

Lee was featured on digital billboard in Times Square, New York as part of badminton brand, Victor's 55th anniversary on 9 March.

Apart from Lee, other international badminton players such as Tai Tzu-ying, Anders Antonsen, Apriyani Rahayu, Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, were also on display.

He lost to Ng Ka Long in the first round with a score of 19–21, 16–21 in straight sets in 39 minutes and failed to defend his Asian Championships title.

He gain a 5 win streak against Ricky Tang, Srikanth Kidambi, Chou Tien-chen, Viktor Axelsen who retired in the quarterfinals, and Jeon Hyeok-jin.

In response to his string of early exits in 2023 and dropping out of the top 10, he stated in a BWF interview that he considered taking a break from badminton tournaments.

Lee fared better at the individual events, where he ended his four-match losing streak against Ng Ka Long and upset world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the second round.

His journey ended in the quarter-finals against the eventual bronze medalist, Prannoy H. S..[65] After 17 months from his last title at the 2022 Thailand Open in May, Lee finally managed to overcome early exits in the 2023 BWF World Tour season and won his first title of the year at the 2023 Arctic Open, defeating fellow Malaysian Ng Tze Yong 21–14, 21–15 in the final.

[67] In the home event Malaysia Open, Lee suffered from yet another first round defeat after losing to Lu Guangzu of China with a score of 21–16, 19–21, 15–21.

[69] Lee again reached the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters where he retired against Brian Yang of Canada due to food poisoning.

[71] In the 2024 All England Open, Lee as a former champion in 2021 did not regain the title after he only reached the quarter-finals where he narrowly lost to Lakshya Sen of India with a score of 22–20, 16–21, 19–21.

[75][76] In the 2024 Malaysia Masters, Lee went into his second final in a row but lost to top seed of the tournament Viktor Axelsen 6-21, 22–20, 13-21 due to a foot injury he sustained during the quarter-final against Anders Antonsen.

[77][78] Lee conceded a walkover in the first round of the 2024 Singapore Open to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting from an injury he sustained from the 2024 Malaysia Masters.

Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong at the 2023 President's Cup