PETALING JAYA: Badminton’s Paris Olympics medallists Lee Zii Jia and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have dropped in the latest world rankings following their early exits at the All-England last week.
In the rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) yesterday, Zii Jia dropped two spots to No. 9 in the men’s singles while Aaron-Wooi Yik fell one rung to No. 6 in the men’s doubles.
It is a big setback for Zii Jia as a top eight ranking guarantees seeding in every tournament and helps players avoid facing top opponents in the early rounds.
But to be fair to Zii Jia, he only recently returned to competition after missing the season’s opening events in January due to an ankle injury sustained at the World Tour Finals in December.
Zii Jia has also admitted he is still far from his best, which was evident in his performances —losing in the quarter-finals of the Orleans Masters, his first tournament of the year, before suffering a first-round exit in Birmingham.
Zii Jia will seek redemption at the Badminton Asia Championships next month as the tournament offers ranking points equivalent to a Super 1000 event on the World Tour.
The drop in ranking for Aaron-Wooi Yik was due to their failure to defend the runner-up points from last year’s All England after crashing out in the first round last week.
National coaching director Rexy Mainaky has also hinted that the duo may have to skip the Asian meet due to Aaron’s lingering shoulder injury.
If this is the case, Aaron-Wooi Yik could slide further down the rankings as they will also be unable to defend their semi-final points from last year’s edition.
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, despite a last-16 exit at the All-England, held on their world No. 2 ranking.
Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, winners at the Indonesia Masters in January, are the third Malaysian men’s doubles pair ranked in the top 10 – at No. 8.
Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also remained at No. 4 in mixed doubles despite their first-round defeat.
It was also status quo for world No. 5 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah and world No. 3 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, who continue to lead the country’s women’s doubles and mixed doubles rankings, respectively. They were Malaysia’s best performers in Birmingham, reaching the quarter-finals.
Altogether, Malaysia have two singles players and 13 pairs ranked in the world’s top 32 across all four disciplines, ensuring their eligibility for all World Tour events.
