KUALA LUMPUR: The arrival of coach Wong Tat Meng is seen as the missing piece of puzzle in revitalising Lee Zii Jia's challenge for Olympic gold.
World No. 7 Zii Jia credited his remarkable turnaround this year to Tat Meng as he has become a more complete player, as opposed to his previous style of relying solely on his attacking prowess to win matches.
Tat Meng, a former national coach, joined Team LZJ in May last year, bringing a wealth of international coaching experience from stints in Indonesia, Scotland, South Korea and Hong Kong.
After enduring a series of ups and downs in his performance, Zii Jia seems to have rediscovered his mojo in the recent stretch of tournaments leading up to the Olympics.
He won two titles, the Thailand Open and Australian Open, and finished second at the Malaysia Masters.
"With coach Tat Meng coming into our team as head coach, he's trying to add something to my game, which is to make me more of an all-round player," Zii Jia told the Badminton World Federation in a recent recorded interview.
"If you've watched my games before, I was only an attacking player. There were no rallying shots from me, not many defensive shots either.
"I'm more comfortable now and I'm no longer a player who's just smashing all the way. There are so many things that coach Tat Meng has contributed to my game."
Zii Jia will need to enter the Paris Olympics with all aspects of his game in top gear, given the potentially tricky match-ups on his path to the final.
He is expected to easily advance through Group D, which includes Spain's Pablo Abian and Viren Nettasinghe, both lower-ranked players.
His first major test is likely to come in the last-16, where he could face Indonesia's Anthony Ginting, the bronze medalist from the previous Olympics.
Should Zii Jia progress, a quarter-final matchup against his friend and world No. 4, Anders Antonsen, may await.
If Zii Jia can navigate these challenges and reach the semi-finals, he might find himself up against top seed Shi Yu Qi of China.
Zii Jia's Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago ended at the last-16 stage, where he lost to Rio 2016 champion Chen Long 8-21, 21-19, 21-5, despite having dominated the opening game.
Zii Jia said he would draw inspiration from the man he looked up to. "The last time I lost to my idol, Chen Long, and he ended up being a silver medallist," said Zii Jia.
"So, I think at that time I learnt a lot from him and how he dealt with the situation in the Olympics. It was a great experience for me."