Vantaa: Ahead of the Sudirman Cup first Group D tie with England that will take place on Monday, the Malaysian squad was determined to make a good start in Vantaa.
Malaysia’s World No. 8 men’s singles player – Lee Zii Jia admitted that he and World No. 8 men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik would shoulder huge responsibility when playing against England.
However, the reigning All England champion insisted he had his own ‘secret recipe’ for overcoming the pressure and said he felt much calmer compared to his Sudirman Cup debut in Nanning, China, two years ago.
“There will inevitably be some pressure, but we just have to face it,” said Lee.
“Especially me, Aaron-Wooi Yik, we will take on this challenge the best we could,” added Lee.
“What’s important is focusing on your game, whether you could control the stress or not,” explained Lee.
“I played my first Sudirman Cup two years ago. At that time, I was a bit stressed. But right now, I am more experienced and more mature, therefore, it’s easier for me to cope with the pressure this time,” said Lee Zii Jia in a video he posted on Sunday.
On paper, Lee Zii Jia, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, and women’s singles player Kisona Selvaduray were Malaysia’s best bets to collect points in their first Group D match against England.
Lee Zii Jia is expected to meet world number 202 Johnnie Torjussen while World No. 53 Kisona is expected to meet World No. 79 Chloe Birch.
Malaysia’s men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, who are still fresh from winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, will probably take on World No. 19 Ben Lane/Sean Vendy.
Meanwhile, in the Sudirman Cup day one action between Denmark and Canada on Sunday, although the Tokyo Olympics men’s singles gold medalist, Viktor Axelsen was left out of Denmark’s Sudirman Cup squad in the opener, that had little to no impact at all for the Denmark team as they saw off Canada 5-0 on Sunday.
Niclas Nohr/Amalie Magelund started the proceedings for Denmark in the mixed doubles event, and they needed only 23 minutes to beat Nyl Yakura/Crystal Lai 21-9, 21-4.
In the second match that followed, Canada’s World No. 43 men’s singles player, Brian Yang, who just returned to Canada after spending days sparring with Denmark’s Olympic champion, Viktor Axelsen, in Dubai, managed to brush off the rust, coming back from 7-17 in the second set against World No. 3 Anders Antonsen to tie the score at 17-17 before losing the match 18-21, 19-21.
Playing without World No. 11 Michelle Li who is still recovering from her leg surgery, Rachel Chan of Canada was no match for Denmark’s World No. 24 Line Christophersen, going down 13-21, 17-21 allowing Christophersen to clinch the third point for her team.
Denmark will play Russia on Monday while Canada will next face Indonesia.
