KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has urged Malaysians to stop criticising national shuttler Lee Zii Jia for now.
Instead, Yeoh said Malaysians should celebrate his achievement of winning the second bronze medal for Malaysia at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
"Discussion on being with the association vs being independent can wait for another day," she said in a Facebook post today.
"Yes there's been history with BAM (BA of Malaysia), yes he was briefly in RTG (Road to Gold) and then he decided otherwise.
"Now he is fully independent but can we as a nation just pause for now and celebrate the fact that this young man has come a long way, picked himself up and has now made it on the Olympic podium?
"Celebrate his success and well done to his coach Wong Tat Meng for helping Zii Jia make it this far."
Yeoh added that she will leave the details of financial rewards and financial support for another day.
Yesterday, Zii Jia delivered the second bronze for Malaysia when he bounced back from a game down to beat India's Lakshya Sen 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in an energy-sapping 71-minute third-place playoff at Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
On Sunday, men's doubles aces Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik delivered the first medal for Malaysia at Paris 2024 when they clawed their way back from the brink of defeat to overcome Danes Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 16-21, 22-20, 21-19 in the bronze medal playoff.-- Bernama