KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — National men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia needs to improve his stamina and fitness if he wants to win a medal at the Philippines SEA Games.

Former national player Ismail Saman believes the 21-year-old from Kedah has good game play, skills and agility to be a medal contender at the biennial Games.

Ismail also believes that Zii Jia is capable of upsetting stronger rivals like Jonatan Christie and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting from Indonesia, who are ranked fourth and ninth in the world respectively, in Manila.

"From my point of view, Zii Jia’s game is pretty good but he just needs to increase his stamina and fitness. Compared to other big names, he has the tendency to make mistakes.

"If Zii Jia wants to follow in the footsteps of Kento Momota (current world number one) or to win an Olympics medal, he has to work hard.

"If he can bridge the gap with the two Indonesian players, he has a chance in Tokyo,” said Ismail when met by reporters at the launch of the Aeon Credit Purple League Junior 2019 badminton tournament here today.

Meanwhile, Ismail, who is also the Petaling Badminton Club (Petaling BC) head coach, hopes that the club, who emerged as the champion at the inaugural edition in 2015 and 2016, would finish in the top three this year.

The club finished seventh out of nine teams last year as there had been no development programmes after their key players like Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik passed the age of 19.

To strengthen the team this season, Ismail said the club has signed up two Indonesian players and is in negotiation to bring in a Taiwanese player. — Bernama