Zii Jia Misses Out On All England, Finds Himself In Reserves List

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) --  Lee Zii Jia, the 2021 All England champion, can forget about competing in this year's edition in March after finding himself named 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 finds himself 16th in the reserves list.

This is possibly due to the 2024 Paris Olympic bronze medallist slipping down the world ranking, as he is currently ranked 103rd.

Only the world's top 32 shuttlers are eligible to compete in the All England Badminton Championships.

Malaysia currently only have one representative in men's singles, namely world number 30 Leong Jun Hao.

For the record, Zii Jia made an appearance in the Malaysia Open early this month after being plagued by 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 competitive action 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 take a complete rest and to focus on full recovery.

On Jan 6, the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist 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. 

-- BERNAMA