PUTRAJAYA, April 5 — All England men’s singles champion Lee Zii Jia and Swiss Open winners Pearly Tan-M Thinaah are determined to do well at the higher levels including the Tokyo Olympics in July, said Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican.

Reezal Merican, who met Zii Jia and women’s doubles pair Pearly and Thinaah today, said they were not contented with their successes and also not expecting any incentives from the ministry.

"They told me they want to prove that they can go further than that; incentives are not important. Whether there will be incentives, we will see.

"But this is just the first milestone; we are hungry for bigger achievements. I would like to commend them for not expecting these things (incentives),” he told reporters after meeting the three shuttlers at his office in Menara KBS here today.

Also present at the brief meeting were Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria, secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh and coaching director Wong Choong Hann, as well as National Sports Council director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail.

Reezal Merican also praised the young shuttlers for their recent performances, especially Zii Jia for his fighting spirit which brought the rakyat together to cheer for his victory.

"When our players are on court, they are not fighting alone but have the backing of 32 million people. On many occasions, sports has brought us all together. These players are not carried away by applause and not deterred by criticism,” he added.

Reezal Merican also advised the shuttlers to remain focused and always assess their own progress against that of their rivals.

Asked on the Malaysia Open scheduled for May 25-30, he said in principle spectators would be allowed, and the ministry was willing to assist BAM in terms of working out the standard operating procedures and other aspects of hosting the BWF World Tour tournament. — Bernama