Zii Jia turns down RTG offer
PUTRAJAYA: Professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia has turned down an offer to join the Youth and Sports Ministry's Road to Gold (RTG) programme.
This was confirmed by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh during a press conference here today (June 10).
Yeoh said the RTG committee respects Zii Jia's decision and wishes him the best.
"Zii Jia has decided not to join RTG, he has his own reasons and we respect that. We wish him the best," said Yeoh during the presser.
"I would like to thank Zii Jia, whom I met recently, for providing valuable input on how we can further help professional players.
"At the end of the day, the decision lies in the hands of the athletes. We respect whatever decision they make.
"I want to make it clear that the door to RTG is always open.
"Our goal is the same as the athletes, which is to win gold. It does not matter whether they are professional athletes or athletes under BA of Malaysia (BAM), we want to help."
Zii Jia's team, in a post on social media today (June 10), said the shuttler is grateful for the offer though believe the opportunity should be given to "more deserving" athletes at the current time.
"After much consideration, we have decided not to take up the offer to be included in the RTG programme," said Zii Jia's team.
"RTG is a programme reserved for the best of the best in the country and sinze Zii Jia is still recovering from his injury, we feel that the appropriate assistance from the programme should be given to his fellow peers that are more deserving at this moment in time.
"Although Zii Jia will not be part of the RTG programme, we deeply value the opportunity presented to his and we would like to express our sincerest appreciation and gratitude to the RTG committee.
"Especially the minister and RTG coordinator Datuk Stuart Ramalingam for making the time to meet Zii Jia personally."
Zii Jia is currently recovering from an ankle injury sustained late last season.
RTG is intended to give Malaysia's top athletes the additional support they need to challenge for gold at the Olympics as well as other major international competitions.
Zii Jia had previously turned down an offer to join RTG during the 2024 Paris Olympics cycle.
In addition to sport science support, competition exposure and coaching, athletes under the RTG programme also receive a RM3,000 monthly allowance.
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