Over-reliance on Zii Jia a bane, says Rexy

CHENGDU: The lack of depth in the singles is still holding Malaysia back in the Thomas Cup Finals.

The team, led by world No. 10 Lee Zii Jia, fell 1-3 to China in the semi-finals at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center in Chengdu on Saturday (May 4).

National coaching director Rexy Mainaky highlighted Malaysia’s over-reliance on Zii Jia as one the main causes of the defeat.

Zii Jia went down 19-21, 5-21 to world No. 2 Shi Yuqi in the first singles while world No. 37 Jun Hao, who had to step up in the absence of the injured Ng Tze Yong (No. 18), lost 17-21, 10-21 to Li Shifeng (No. 6) in the second singles.

World No. 5 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik gave Malaysia hope with a hard-fought 15-21, 21-12, 21-17 win over world No. 1 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang but Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (No. 15) could not save the tie when they lost 21-18, 19-21, 12-21 to He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (No. 11).

In the third singles, Malaysia selected 20-year-old Justin Hoh ahead of world No. 63 Cheam June Wei while China could call on world No. 19 Lu Guangzu.

Justin did not get to play as the match was completed before the decider.

“Honestly, we were hoping to get three points from Zii Jia and the two doubles pairs,” said Rexy.

“This puts a lot of pressure on Zii Jia. We can’t afford to only rely on him to deliver points in the singles.

“If we have at least two strong singles players, it will reduce the pressure on Zii Jia.

“In two years’ time (in the next edition), we need Jun Hao and Justin to be more solid,” added Rexy.

Malaysia last captured the Thomas Cup in 1992.

The team last made it into the final in 2014 in New Delhi but settled for silver after going down narrowly 2-3 to Japan.