Lee Zii Jia: Don't Touch My Family In News Or I'll Come After You
The Malaysian badminton player urged media outlets not to cross the line while reporting about him.
Malaysian badminton player Lee Zii Jia has issued a warning to media outlets, urging them not to mention anything about his family members or the people he cares about in their reports
Speaking to reporters on Monday, 2 October, the 25-year-old shuttler stated that if media outlets continued to report about his family members, he would take action against them, reported Harian Metro.
"Since my departure from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), there has been a lot said about me, with some of it being true and some not.
"I understand that the media has a job to do, and I can't stop anyone from reporting what they want.
"But I want to say is don't touch my family, and those I deeply care about. If you cross that line, I will chase after you," said Lee.
The Kedah-born badminton player's statement comes after he defeated Hong Kong's Angus Ng with scores of 15-21, 21-15, and 21-16 in an intense 62-minute battle at the 19th Asian Games
New Straits Times reported that Lee's victory can be seen as a significant boost for him since he had not defeated Ng since the German Open in 2019.
The World No 16 badminton player said, "I'm happy because this is a breakthrough for me, especially after a series of losses to Angus in our previous encounters."
"I've put last week's team event disappointment behind me because, as professionals, we must move forward.
"I'm determined to capitalise on this momentum. Sometimes, it's just not your day, and that's part of the game," he said yesterday.
Lee Zii Jia during his match against Hong Kong's Angus Ng at the Asian Games.
Image via Reuters via New Straits Times
In recent times, Lee has been outspoken about the unfair media coverage about him and his performance in his career
Last Thursday, 28 September, Lee was accused of snubbing Malaysian media outlets after his defeat to South Korea's Jeon Hyeok Jin in the men's team event at the Asian Games.
According to New Straits Times, Lee was in the midst of answering questions when an official intervened and abruptly ended the interview at the Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
Previous media reports described the official as a "volunteer" and characterised Lee cutting short the interview as a "controversy".
Following the incident, Team LZJ issued a statement criticising what they deemed as unfair news coverage, labelling it as "unnecessary character assassination"
"Team LZJ has always tried to the best of our abilities to accommodate the country’s media and have never shied away to offer perspective on performances even when things are not going our way.
"It is with such disappointment that Team LZJ feels the need to address reports made by certain Malaysian media claiming Team LZJ and Lee Zii Jia himself created controversy by cutting short post match interviews after his match for Team Malaysia in Hangzhou on Thursday, 28 September 2023.
"Team LZJ would never do something of the sort and what happened at the mix zone was under the purview of the Asian Games organisers," said the athlete's managing team said in a statement last Friday, 29 September.
Prior to that, in May, Lee uploaded a Douyin video to express his tribulations about the heavy criticism he faced by the media outlets.
A month later, his fans allegedly sent threats to a sports commentator working for a local private television, prompting the latter to file a police report, reported Bernama.
In response, Lee stated that he hoped the love-hate relationship between the media and fans regarding his performance would be short-lived and resolved amicably.
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