Zii Jia eyes triumphant return to All England [WATCH]

KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Lee Zii Jia will return from injury to compete in the prestigious All England next month.

A right ankle injury, sustained during the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou in December, led to Zii Jia withdrawing from the Malaysia Open, India Open and Indonesia Masters last month.

The professional will start his European campaign at the Orleans Masters on March 4-9 which will serve as a warm-up for the All England in Birmingham.

World No. 7 Zii Jia will start as the highest-ranked player in the Orleans Masters.

He has never played in the Orleans Masters, and the tournament, which will feature some dangerous players in the world top 20, will enable him to assess his fitness

The notable players are world No. 10 Lakshya Sen of India, Loh Kean Yew of Singapore (No. 11), Koki Watanabe of Japan (No. 12), Alex Lanier of France (No. 17) and Angus Ng of Hong Kong (No. 20).

A good show in Orleans should prime Zii Jia for the All England where he won the title in 2021 and reached the semi-finals three times (2020, 2022 and 2023) and was a quarter-finalist last year.

If Zii Jia shines in Birmingham, it will boost his confidence for his World Tour campaign.

The European events will also see the debut of Zii Jia's new coach, Yeoh Kay Bin, who has replaced Wong Tat Meng.