KUALA LUMPUR: World No 3 Lee Zii Jia admitted that watching Loh Kean Yew's previous match helped him overcome his Singaporean rival at the Denmark Open in Odense.
The Malaysian men's singles checked into his maiden Denmark Open final, after defeating Kean Yew 21-18, 21-15 in the semi-finals at the Jyske Bank Arena.
Surprisingly, in a recent podcast interview with two other Danish shuttlers, world No 2 Anders Antonsen and Hans Kristian Vittinghus, Zii Jia shared that analysing his opponents' previous matches was never part of his tournament or match preparation.
However, the reigning Asian champion might start doing it more often after his recent feat.
Speaking to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) after his match against Kean Yew, Zii Jia said: "I prepared a lot for this match. I watched Kean Yew's previous match (against Axelsen in the semi-finals) and discussed with my coach (Indra Wijaya).
"Today, I stayed calm and patient. I also tried to reduce his attacking shots, because as you know, Kean Yew has a very powerful smash."
Zii Jia, who is expected to move up to a career-high world No 2 this week, will face China's Shi Yuqi today for the crown.
Yuqi, who is making a comeback from a suspension by the China BA, had to dig deep before carving out a 21-15, 9-21, 24-22 win over Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the other last four fixture.
On his thoughts of reaching his first Denmark Open final, Zii Jia added: "This is a breakthrough for me after my last two tournaments (World Championships and Japan Open) which was poor.
"I do not think anyone will want to lose in the final. I will prepare myself and discuss with my coach."
In a separate interview with Badminton Europe, the 24-year-old Kedah-born reiterated that he does not regret turning professional and doing things his own way despite the heavy backlash from several quarters.
"I will keep going because this is the path I chose and I have to finish it. This is my journey and I don't think I'll ever stop," said Zii Jia, whose other individual title this season was the Super 500 Thailand Open in May.