Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s top singles player, Lee Zii Jia, climbed one rung to world No 3 in the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) rankings released today.
The highest world ranking that 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallist Zii Jia has achieved is world No 2 in January 2023.
China’s Shi Yuqi remains the world’s No 1 player while two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark is ranked second.
Another national men’s singles player, Ng Tze Yong, who has not competed in any tournament since February after undergoing two back surgeries, dropped three places to 25th in the world.
Malaysia remains strong in men’s doubles, with four national pairs ranked among the world’s top 20.
However, the nation’s top pair of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik dropped from third to fifth in the world after losing 4,150 points from their runners-up finish at last year’s China Open.
The other three pairs are professionals Nur Izzuddin Rumsani-Goh Sze Fei (12th), Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (17th) and Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri (19th).
In women’s doubles, Pearly Tan-M Thinaah remain eighth in the world while mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei hold on to the ninth spot.
The nation’s top women’s singles player, Goh Jin Wei, dropped two spots to 33rd in the world.
