Kuala Lumpur: The two big names of the game, World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia and reigning World Champion Loh Kean Yew will be up against each other in the first Group B tie of the 2022 Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) between Malaysia and Singapore on Wednesday, February 16th, 2022.
The World Champion Loh Kean Yew is coming off a fiery performance against Lee in the last two tournaments, as he defeated Lee in the first round of 2021 French Open 24-22, 21-14 on Oct 27, 2021, and won the 2021 HYLO Open men’s singles title on Nov 7, 2021, after his opponent in the final – Lee Zii Jia had to retire due to injury when trailing 21-19, 13-21, 12-17.
Video of the 2021 HYLO Open Final:
“Of course, I want to seek revenge when we meet at the BATC. I believe we both are going to play hard as we don’t want to lose to each other,” said Lee on Sunday.
“To be honest, he played really well in the HYLO Open final. If I didn’t get injured, I am not confident that I can beat him,” answered Lee when asked about their last encounter before they meet again on Wednesday.
“He is now a much more mature player, and I’m looking forward to playing him again,” added Lee.
“My performance at the end of last year wasn’t that good, I hope I could slowly regain my confidence and could have a better 2022,” continued Lee.
As for Loh who just wrapped up his training with Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Viktor Axelsen, and childhood pal Cheam June Wei in Dubai, had completed the COVID-19 quarantine period and started his training at the Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam, Malaysia.
Loh got a hero’s welcome from the Singaporeans after he got home from Huelva, Spain by becoming the first-ever Singaporean to win the World’s title. He overcame Kidambi Srikanth of India 21-15, 22-20 in the 2021 BWF World Championships men’s singles final on December 19, 2021.
The 24-year-old looked in imperious form at the start of the 2022 season as he managed to advance to the 2022 India Open final, before losing to Lakshya Sen of India 22-24, 17-21 on Jan 16, 2022. He then flew straight to Dubai from India to train with Axelsen before traveling to Malaysia early last week to participate in the 2022 BATC.
There is no clear favorite whenever these two players play each other. However, one has to give Lee Zii Jia a few extra points given the 2022 BATC is being played in Malaysia. This could very well be the match of the tournament, given both the players are coming into the match in such good form.
Here’re the potential match-ups in the tie between Malaysia and Singapore on Wednesday.
First Men’s Singles:
Lee Zii Jia vs. Loh Kean Yew
Second Men’s Singles:
Ng Tze Yong vs. Jason Teh Jia Heng
Third Men’s Singles:
Sholeh Aidil or Leong Jun Hao vs. Joel Koh Jia Wei
First Men’s Doubles:
Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik vs. Terry Hee Yong Kai/Loh Kean Hean
Second Men’s Doubles:
Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin vs. Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/Andy Kwek Jun Liang
