Zii Jia, Aaron, Wooi Yik drive away with Chery and RM100,000

PETALING JAYA: Paris Olympic Games bronze medal winners Lee Zii Jia and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were handsomely rewarded as they received a Chery Tiggo 7 Pro cars each for their efforts.

Zii Jia became only the third Malaysian men’s singles player to achieve a podium finish after Rashid Sidek and Lee Chong Wei by clinching a bronze medal in Paris.

Rashid secured Malaysia’s first medal – a bronze – at the 1996 Atlanta while Chong Wei secured three silver medals in a row at the 2008 Beijing, 2012 London and 2026 Rio de Janeiro.

Aaron-Wooi Yik, who secured their first bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo, added their second in Paris.

The SUV presented by Chery Malaysia to the players is worth 123,800. Zii Jia, who is in Yokohama at the ongoing Japan Open, didn’t attend the handover ceremony.

Meanwhile, there was more good news for Aaron-Wooi Yik as the sports minister Hannah Yeoh announced that they will receive RM100,000 each for winning the bronze medal.

The men’s doubles pair who win a bronze at the Olympics will have to share the RM100,000 they receive under the National Sports Council’s (NSC) Shakam incentive scheme.

However, Hannah said the government had agreed to award the same amount (RM100,000) received by Zii Jia for winning the singles bronze.