KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Rashid Sidek believes one title could give Lee Zii Jia the confidence to climb the world rankings ahead of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The world No. 40 will have another chance to win his first title since the 2024 Australian Open when the Kumamoto Masters begins in Japan tomorrow.
“Winning a title would give him more motivation to push up the rankings and prepare for Olympic qualification,” said Rashid.
“Judging by his performances in the last two tournaments, he has made good progress. If he can win at least one more title, that would be even better.”
Zii Jia reached the Arctic Open semi-finals last month. Despite suffering a high fever before the Hylo Open in Germany last week, he made the last 16 and took Japan’s world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka to three games.
What impressed Rashid was the 28-year-old’s willingness to attack. He believes Zii Jia’s ability to beat top-10 players shows he can still challenge for titles.
“You can see the progress. He has taken it upon himself to improve his game, and the way he plays has changed,” added Rashid
“You can see he has the desire to prove he can still play well. He is attacking more, and that has always been his strength.”
Zii Jia, fourth on the Kumamoto reserve list, earned a place in qualifying after several withdrawals.
The former All England champion faces Japan’s Minoru Koga for a place in the main draw, where France’s world No. 1 Christo Popov awaits the winner in the first round.