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Top national men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia has sparked concern among netizens after posting 10 hand-drawn sketches depicting anxiety and dread
In an Instagram post yesterday, 3 July, Lee shared the drawings without a caption, prompting speculation that the 27-year-old may be experiencing intense mental or emotional stress.
The artworks, which Lee reposted from Xiaohongshu, were drawn by a social media artist known as Axil Tinsti.
The drawings mostly feature a male figure whose head is portrayed as swirling chaos, accompanied by imagery of blood, needles, and stitches.
At the time of writing, the post garnered over 93,000 likes and 2,200 comments
One top comment read, "Somebody check on him. Is bro okay?"
Meanwhile, fellow national shuttlers reached out to him, with Goh Jin Wei writing, "Time will heal everything," and Lai Pei Jing adding, "Let's work hard together!"
According to The Star, Lee has only competed in two tournaments this year.
He fell short of the semi-finals at the Orleans Masters and was knocked out in the Round of 32 at the All England.
Following that, he announced that he would be taking an extended break to focus on recovery.
His world ranking has slipped to No. 27, but he has applied for a protected ranking from the Badminton World Federation to retain his position during his hiatus.
