Lee Zii Jia had a shaky start at the German Open yesterday but his Indonesian coach Indra Wijaya was not alarmed.
Zii Jia, playing in his first “Open” tournament since leaving BAM in January, clawed back from a game down before seeing off Dutchman Mark Caljouw 19-21, 21-13, 21-8.
Indra, who joined Zii Jia’s professional team recently, said there was no need for the world No 7 to panic.
In fact, Indra believes that a nervous start is not always a bad thing. “I’m actually quite pleased with Zii Jia’s performance. It’s really normal for players to sort of test the conditions of the hall, manage their nerves and to find that feeling on court.
“Yes, it wasn’t the perfect first game but Zii Jia bounced back in the second and third as he should. He is in good shape,” said Indra who was in Muelheim together with Zii Jia’s physiotherapist Sandra Fiedler and manager Lee Zii Yii.
Zii Jia will play France’s Christo Popov in the second round today.
However, in the women’s doubles first round, national No 1 and tournament eighth seeds Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah suffered a shock 21-17, 21-14 defeat to Scotland’s Julie Macpherson-Ciara Torrance.
Meanwhile, the big names in men’s singles, including world No 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, India’s K.Srikanth and Lakshya Sen all cleared the first round yesterday.
Source: New Straits Times
