KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 — Lee Zii Jia’s coach Liew Daren has faced a wave of online criticism after the Malaysian shuttler suffered a shock early exit from the Vietnam Open.

The backlash came after Zii Jia’s defeat by Taiwan’s world No. 88 Wu Zhe-ying in the second round of the Super 100 tournament, with The Star reporting that Daren shared one particularly harsh comment on his personal social media account.

“Oii you better quit from Team Lee Zii Jia, you are the most useless coach he can get,” the badminton fan wrote.

The same individual later criticised Daren again in response to another Instagram post, alleging that the coach’s advice had contributed to Zii Jia’s recent poor performances.

Daren took charge of coaching Zii Jia in January after Yeoh Kay Bin left the role to join the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s junior men’s singles programme.

Zii Jia had opted to compete in the lower-tier Vietnam Open as part of an effort to regain his confidence, but his defeat to Wu ended his campaign in the second round.

BAM performance committee chairman Lee Chong Wei has expressed sympathy for Zii Jia’s struggles and again offered the former Asian champion a possible route back into the national set-up if he requires assistance in rebuilding his form.

Zii Jia was previously one of the leading players in the men’s singles game, reaching a career-high world No. 2 in 2022 after winning the All-England title the previous year.

However, a succession of injuries kept him out of action for an extended period last year and affected his performances.

The 28-year-old had also disclosed that he had battled depression, adding to the difficulties he faced during a challenging period in his career.