Thursday, November 19, 2009

Chong Wei: Up to BAM to decide


AS the debate on whether Lee Chong Wei should compete in the Laos Sea Games rages on, the World No 1 was served an unceremonious first round exit from the China Open by Denmark's Jan Jorgensen in Shanghai yesterday.

Chong Wei, who won the Hong Kong Open on Sunday, struggled to get into rhythm and suffered a 21-6, 13-21, 21-17 defeat in 50 minutes.

Chong Wei, in a telephone interview from Shanghai, said he felt stiff coming into the tournament and it didn't help to be up against a quality opponent in the first round.

"It is normally a struggle as the top seed to play against a strong shuttler in the first round. The temperature is low here (about 5oC) and that made it even tougher. I was also making too many errors," said Chong Wei.

"I couldn't get my rhythm and Jorgensen played well to put pressure on me."

However, Chong Wei's mind was more on his participation in next month's Laos Sea Games which are close to the World Super Series Masters in Johor Baru on Dec 2-6. The Sea Games badminton event will be held in Vientienne on Dec 10-17.

Chong Wei, who has just recovered from a left knee injury, is concerned about a recurrence which could put his career in jeopardy and the non-stop competitions will not give him sufficient time to prepare for a hectic 2010 which begins with the Korea Open on Jan 12-17.

"The BA of Malaysia (BAM) wants me to play in both the team and individual events. My only concern is the recurrence of the knee injury which will put a question mark on my career," said Chong Wei.

"Since I have just returned to competition, I don't think I can sustain my performance in the team and individual events of the Sea Games. The risk of injury is always there.

"I won the World Super Series Masters last year and have qualified again. I will leave it to BAM."

Meanwhile, veteran Wong Choong Hann cleared the first round after beating Hu Yun of Hong Kong 21-15, 21-16 and will play Park Sung Hwan of South Korea in the second round.

In the women's singles, Wong Mew Choo advanced to the second round after beating Germany's Nicole Grether 21-14, 21-7 but faces an uphill task against top seed Wang Yihan of China today.

In the men's doubles, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong defeated China's Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan of China 21-18, 21-15 and will meet Denmark's Kasper Hendriksen-Anders Kristiansen in the second round.

1st Rd Results -- (Malaysia unless stated) Men's Singles: Jan Jorgensen (Den) bt Lee Chong Wei 21-6, 13-21, 21-17; Wong Choong Hann bt Hu Yun (HK) 21-15, 21-16;

Doubles: Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong bt Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan (Chn) 21-18, 21-15; Carsten Mogensen-Mathias Boe (Den) bt Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng 22-20, 21-10; Yonathan Dasuki-Rian Sukmawan (Ina) bt Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah 21-13, 21-17.


Women's Singles: Wong Mew Choo bt Nicole Grether (Ger) 21-14, 21-7.

Mixed Doubles: Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong bt Wong Wai Hong-Koon Wai Chee (HK) 21-18, 20-22, 21-10. -NST

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