PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei’s strong performances in the back-to-back Korean and Malaysian Open tournaments should be treated as appetisers for this season.
The challenge for Chong Wei now is to have China’s Lin Dan as the main meal. And the real tests for him will be at the All-England and Swiss Open in March.
Stable champion: Lee Chong Wei is becoming a wiser player.He lifted the Malaysian Open title last Sunday after taking down Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand easily. A week before, he was in commanding form in becoming the first Malaysian to win a Korean Open title. It was also a first for Chong Wei in winning back-to-back Open tournaments.
After the excellent start to the season, Chong Wei clearly stated his ambitions to win in the Majors this year – Thomas Cup Finals, World Championships and Asian Games. And the man to beat is Lin Dan.
The 28-year-old Chong Wei won the highest number of titles in his career last year, winning six of seven tournaments when Lin Dan was not in the fray.
Even Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat has devalued Chong Wei’s achievements and challenged the Malaysian to win by beating the three-time world champion consistently.
National singles coach Misbun Sidek believes that the duel between Chong Wei and Lin Dan would be a close affair this year based on the Malaysian’s performances thus far.
“Chong Wei is getting wiser and more stable in his game. He has taken his game one step higher. I see this as a sign of better things to come from him this year,” said Misbun. He is as fast as Lin Dan used to be. He is at a level of play that he can even get by tiredness if he really puts his mind into it.
“He defeated Du Pengyu and Chen Jin in this Malaysian Open. Both used different styles of play to break Chong Wei but he was able to cope with any situation. Lin Dan is the favourite but Chong Wei is doing all he can to be his genuine challenger.”
Even Chong Wei agrees that his success in major events this year would depend on whether he could get the better of Lin Dan and has vowed to do better.
Aside from Chong Wei, there were only disappointments in the men’s singles and it does not augur well for the Thomas Cup Finals.
Seasoned campaigners Mohd Hafiz Hashim and Wong Choong Hann crashed out in the opening round while none of the back-up shuttlers made any breakthrough, except for Chong Wei Feng, who reached his first quarter-finals in a Super Series event.
The challenge for Chong Wei now is to have China’s Lin Dan as the main meal. And the real tests for him will be at the All-England and Swiss Open in March.
Stable champion: Lee Chong Wei is becoming a wiser player.After the excellent start to the season, Chong Wei clearly stated his ambitions to win in the Majors this year – Thomas Cup Finals, World Championships and Asian Games. And the man to beat is Lin Dan.
The 28-year-old Chong Wei won the highest number of titles in his career last year, winning six of seven tournaments when Lin Dan was not in the fray.
Even Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat has devalued Chong Wei’s achievements and challenged the Malaysian to win by beating the three-time world champion consistently.
National singles coach Misbun Sidek believes that the duel between Chong Wei and Lin Dan would be a close affair this year based on the Malaysian’s performances thus far.
“Chong Wei is getting wiser and more stable in his game. He has taken his game one step higher. I see this as a sign of better things to come from him this year,” said Misbun. He is as fast as Lin Dan used to be. He is at a level of play that he can even get by tiredness if he really puts his mind into it.
“He defeated Du Pengyu and Chen Jin in this Malaysian Open. Both used different styles of play to break Chong Wei but he was able to cope with any situation. Lin Dan is the favourite but Chong Wei is doing all he can to be his genuine challenger.”
Even Chong Wei agrees that his success in major events this year would depend on whether he could get the better of Lin Dan and has vowed to do better.
Aside from Chong Wei, there were only disappointments in the men’s singles and it does not augur well for the Thomas Cup Finals.
Seasoned campaigners Mohd Hafiz Hashim and Wong Choong Hann crashed out in the opening round while none of the back-up shuttlers made any breakthrough, except for Chong Wei Feng, who reached his first quarter-finals in a Super Series event.
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