On the evening of February 20, the 2022 Asian Badminton Team Championships ended the final competition, and the host Malaysian men's team, led by a brother Li Zijia, won three consecutive games, swept the defending champion Indonesia 3-0 on aggregate, won the championship again, and strongly entered the Thomas Cup in May this year. Being able to win the championship at the doorstep is a sense of satisfaction for Li Zijia, who is known as "Li Zongwei's successor", and the next step, they have targeted the Thomas Cup and will not be complacent.
Li Zijia, who had previously wanted to leave the national team, train as a free man and participate in international competitions, was once banned by the Malaysian Badminton Association, but after the two sides had in-depth communication and reached an understanding with each other, Li Zijia could train and compete as a free man, and Malaysian officials would continue to support him. In return, in this Asian team championship, Li Zijia did not hesitate to return to the national team and lead the team to play, and before the game, he shouted out the arrogant words that he would not enter the final and not win the championship.
From the group stage to the knockout stage, Li Zijia made three appearances and won all of them, although the semi-finals and finals were all through the bitter battle of the decider, but in the end Malaysia maintained the victory and won the championship with consecutive victories. Winning the championship at home is a great honor for all Malaysian badminton players. Malaysian badminton legend Lee Zong Wai congratulated the first time, "Congratulations to the Malaysian men's team for winning the Asian Badminton Team Championship. Young players, keep up the good work! At the same time, he also hopes that Malaysia badminton can mushroom in the future and achieve more achievements in the future.
After leading the team to achieve the goal of winning the Asian Team Championship, Li Zijia has set his sights on the next big competition, that is, the Thomas Cup in May. Despite this victory, Li Zijia is well aware that this time the opponents have not sent the main lineup, and Malaysia has only maintained its due level, the real challenge is the Thomas Cup, if everyone can maintain the performance and morale of this game, there may be greater surprises. For the upcoming All England Championship, Li Zijia played as the defending champion, and he admitted that his status was not as good as last year, and the final four was a more practical goal.