National badminton player Lee Zii Jia (李梓嘉) has been in some hot waters lately. The former world no. 2 was previously reprimanded by the legendary Dato Lee Chong Wei (李宗偉) after he and his new coach criticised the newly implemented rule for training with the national team.
The young athlete, however, stood his ground and said he’ll be focusing on his preparations for the BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Championships. Speaking of which, at one point during the tournament, someone managed to capture the Kedah-born star giving something special to young a fan. Watch:
Lee Zii Jia being Lee Zii Jia.
I wonder who are the lucky kids that got his shoes.
🎥: TT @/ Oliver Jeyrald Lee#BWC2023 #BWFWorldChampionships #Copenhagen2023 pic.twitter.com/TS4VXIKvlj
— Craig (@craigansibin) August 24, 2023
Earlier today (Thursday, 24th August), a video, originally filmed and posted by content producer Oliver Jeyrald Lee, went viral on Twitter and TikTok that showed Lee Zii Jia interacting with fans during the BWF World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.
As seen in the video above, the Malaysian badminton player gave one lucky fan his left shoe while also signing T-shirts and posters for other members of the audience. The young fan can be heard excitedly saying, “Thank you! Thank you!” to the athlete while also giving the shoe a quick sniff. Toward the end of the clip, the 25-year-old took off his other shoe to give to the happy fan.
Netizens were amused by the interaction while also jokingly asking the fan what the shoe smelled like since they were on the sports star’s feet just moments ago. A few commented that they’d do the same if they were given something from their idol. One netizen claimed that the reason Lee Zii Jia gave away the shoes was because, at that time, the footwear, with custom-made insoles, was already unusable thus prompting the public figure to give them to the lucky fan.
As for Lee Zii Jia’s performance in the Championships, he seems to be doing well so far as he’ll be facing Danish badminton player Anders Antonsen in the third round. We wish him all the best and may he reclaim the top spot in the world of badminton.
