KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia’s coach Liew Daren wants the world No. 40 to be back in the top 32.
And he has two tournaments left this season to do so.
His participation in this week’s Kumamoto Masters illustrates the situation due to his ranking.
Listed as fourth on the reserves list, he was only promoted to the qualifying round after a slew of withdrawals.
Zii Jia must beat Japan’s Minoru Koga in a qualifier tomorrow to earn a first-round meeting with France’s world No. 1 Christo Popov.
“Zii Jia is doing well and is pain-free now. We have two tournaments left and we want to do all we can to get him back into the top 32,” said Daren.
At last month’s Arctic Open in Finland, the 28-year-old reached the semi-finals before losing to Denmark’s Anders Antonsen. Later a high fever disrupted his preparations for the Hylo Open in Germany, where he still made the second round.
After Kumamoto, Zii Jia will close his season at the Syed Modi International in India on Nov 24-29, his last chance this year to collect ranking points.
Daren sees a return for Zii Jia to the top 32 as an important step towards securing places in the main draws of major tournaments ahead of the Los Angeles Olympic qualifying campaign next year.