Based on sports science alone, it will be too much to expect a miracle from the 23-year-old national men’s singles. But if Zii Jia defies the odds like he did last year when he reached the All England semi-finals before losing narrowly to Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, it could boost his dented spirit.

“We have sports science to calculate how fast a player can recover, and in Zii Jia’s case, he will need some time.

“You can’t just achieve something overnight by simply thinking of it,” he added

Zii Jia has been struggling since his poor outing at the Asian leg of the World Tour in Bangkok in January.

And last week, World No 11, though a seeded second, lost to Thai youngster, Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the Swiss Open semi-finals.Sea Games champion Zii Jia will open his All England campaign against Canada’s Brian Yang.