Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian badminton men’s singles head coach Hendrawan has confirmed that two independent players, including World No. 42 Daren Liew, and World No. 55 Soong Joo Ven have agreed to become the sparring partners for Malaysia’s World No. 14 Lee Zii Jia.
Hendrawan said that this was part of his plan to prepare Lee for the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo in July.
“I have already talked to Daren and Joo Ven about this matter, and they agreed. In fact, this would not only benefit Zii Jia, but would create a win win situation for all players,” said Hendrawan.
“I also plan to send Zii Jia to Thailand to undergo training so that he would feel and stay fresh instead of feeling tired during the long training process,” added Hendrawan.
The Indonesian coach also revealed that Lee will cut down on competing in other international tournaments after the German Open and the All England Championship, so that he could focus more on training for the Olympics because he has played too may tournaments over the last season.
“After the All England Championship, Zii Jia will only compete in the Malaysia Open (April), Thomas Cup Finals (May) and Indonesia Open (June),” explained Hendrawan.
