Skip to main content

Easy defence for Chong Wei


By K.M. Boopathyboopathy@nst.com.my

LEE Chong Wei's title defence in the World Super Series Masters looks good but South Koreans Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae will be the stumbling blocks again for Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in Johor Baru beginning Wednesday.

Chong Wei should have a field day as Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark and Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia are his strongest challengers in the Super Series Masters.

The other players who will be seeing action are Park Sung Hwan of South Korea, China's Bao Chunlai, Jan Jorgensen of Denmark, Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand and Hsieh Yu Hsin of Taiwan.

The absence of Olympic champion Lin Dan of China and his compatriot Chen Jin, as well as Indonesians Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso will surely make the Super Series Masters a dull affair but Chong Wei will not be complaining.

Lin Dan is probably the only player capable of upstaging Chong Wei at the moment and the latter can now be relieved that a second Super Series Masters title and US$40,000 (RM135,000) look assured.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong also have the good news that bogey pairs Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia and Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China are out but Jae Sung-Yong Dae will be all out to avenge their final defeat to the Malaysians last year.

Jae Sung-Yong Dae are on a high after having beaten Kien Keat-Boon Heong in all four meetings this year.

However, home ground advantage is something Kien Keat-Boon Heong will be depending on to secure the title again.

The other pairs who have secured their berths are Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark, Anthony Clark-Nathan Robertson of England, Guo Zhendong-Xu Chen of China, Indonesian pairs Alvent Yulianto-Hendra Gunawan and Yonathan Dasuki-Rian Sukmawan while the eighth pair will be Malaysia's Zakry Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari who made it following the withdrawal of Japan's Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno.

Women's doubles Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui are the only other Malaysian interest in the tournament. NST

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...

Atlet Tempuhi Empat Kejohanan Besar Sebelum Olimpik Rio 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Mei (Bernama) -- Empat temasya sukan penting yang dijadual berlangsung mulai Disember ini hingga 2015 menjadi medan persiapan atlet negara sebelum menghadapi cabaran Sukan Olimpik 2016 di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, kata Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Khairy Jamaluddin Jumaati. Kejohanan berkenaan ialah Sukan SEA di Myanmar pada Disember, Sukan Asia 2014 di Incheon, Korea Selatan, Sukan Komanwel 2014 di Glasgow, Scotland dan Sukan SEA 2015 di Singapura. Bercakap kepada pemberita selepas melawat Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) di Bukit Jalil di sini, Khairy berkata kesemua temasya sukan itu dilihat amat penting dalam memastikan impian negara untuk membawa pulang pingat emas Olimpik pertama menjadi kenyataan. "Kita di Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS) mahupun MSN akan memastikan semua atlet mendapat bantuan sewajarnya dalam melakukan persiapan ke arah membawa pulang pingat emas pertama negara di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil nanti," katanya. Dalam perkemb...

Uber Cub: Malaysian squad Can Spring A Surprise - Ahmad Shabery

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek remains confident that the national Uber Cup squad can spring a surprise when Malaysia hosts the Thomas and Uber Cup finals at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from May 9-16. He said despite not being the favourite, the women's team was able to surprise everyone by winning the gold medal at the Laos SEA Games. "I am confident they (Uber Cup team) will be able to produce a similar surprise. Not only are they capable of reaching the semi-final, they can go further," he told reporters after having lunch with national shuttlers here Thursday. National badminton Team manager Datuk Syed Abu Bakar Abdullah who echoed the minister's confidence said: "In Laos, nobody expected the women's team to win the world, so why not the Uber Cup? All they need to do is try their very best." Women's team captain Wong Pei Tty said she and her team-mates have set a target of r...