MANY badminton fans and enthusiasts have mixed feelings about our former All-England champion and currently ranked world number four Lee Zii Jia, especially through his sudden burst of emotion through his expletive-laden remark “I’m done” after his second-round defeat in the German Open.
Upon his All-England victory and the lure of big prize money and sponsorship, he left BAM with a strained relationship.
Even our three-time Olympic silver medalist Datuk Lee Chong Wei did not waver and chose to continue being with BAM.
Zii Jia has been in poor form recently, losing in the early rounds of the Malaysian Open, Indian Open, and Indonesian Masters, which was too much for the world-class player’s confidence and ego. In addition, he is embroiled in a legal battle with his former Indonesian coach, Indra Wijaya.
Many former national players and sports enthusiasts feel he needs a sports psychologist or mental trainer, which is a professional way to resolve his losing streak.
As a former national athlete, I had bad form, so my coach and I examined our training methods, rest, and food intake, and only participated when my form showed signs of improvement, which would otherwise result in a loss of confidence and depression.
We have seen a slew of world-class athletes make comebacks simply by changing their mindset about their hasty decision to end their sporting careers.
Some from career and life-threatening injuries and illnesses to devastating bouts of depression and substance abuse, all these athletes hit rock bottom.
My all-time favourite tennis player Andre Aggasi is a legend of the sport and largely attributed to the rise in the popularity of the sport during the 1990s, having won eight grand slams over the course of his career.
He was ranked world number one in 1995, before experiencing a drastic fall from grace. His form had plummeted and he had off-court issues.
His reported lack of enthusiasm for the sport caused him to drop to world number 140 in 1997.
He then cleaned up his act and set the record for the highest recorded move from 140 to 6, and he was ranked world number two in 2002.
The key takeaway here is that some of these athletes sought professional help or used their injury or lack of form as a catalyst for bigger and better things with the right mindset.
While each athlete’s success differs, they all thrived in similar circumstances of defeat, benefiting from adversity rather than shrinking from it.
Hopefully, Zii Jia will rediscover his form, whether through a sports psychologist or otherwise, and return to the game with great humility and drive.
C. Sathasivam Sitheravellu
Seremban
