Skip to main content

Badminton: Chong Wei, Lin Dan Final On The Cards In Wembley

KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 (Bernama) -- Barring any upsets, World number one Datuk Lee Chong Wei and China's Lin Dan are expected to meet in the men's singles final of the World Championships to be held in Wembley, London from Aug 8-14.

In the latest world rankings released, Chong Wei and Lin Dan were seeded first and second respectively and if both live up to their top billings, they will meet in the final.

Chong Wei as the top seed was drawn in the top half while Lin Dan, the second seed and world number two will start at the bottom half.

This will be the fourth time that Chong Wei is seeded top in the world meet but unfortunately, he has failed to live up to his world No. 1 tag at the last three occasions in Madrid (2006), Hyderabad (2009) and Paris (2010).

Lin Dan was the top seed at the 2007 world meet in Kuala Lumpur.

Two other title contenders - Denmark's Peter-Gade Christensen and Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, were seeded third and fourth respectively.

"Chong Wei will however, need to focus on every match and not underestimate his opponents, especially those from China," singles head coach Rashid Sidek told reporters after the draw.

If Chong Wei meets Lin Dan in the final, it will be their third big match-up of the year between the archrivals.

At the South Korea Open in January, Lin Dan defeated Chong Wei in the final while the Malaysian exacted revenge over the three-time world champion at the All-England final.

Chong Wei will open his campaign against unknown Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand before facing a more serious threat from Park Sung Hwan of South Korea and Chen Long from China who are also in the same half.

His semi-final opponent is expected to be either Taufik Hidayat from Indonesia or Chen Jin of China.

Rashid said based on Chong Wei's current form, this year would be his best opportunity to win the elusive title.

Meanwhile, in the men's doubles, Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong, last year's losing finalist in Paris, were seeded fourth and expected to meet Chinese pair Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan in the second round after being given a bye in the first round.

The top three seeds are defending champions Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng of China, Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen of Denmark (second) and South Koreans Lee Yong-dae/Jung Jae-sung.

The country's second ranked pair Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif/Thien How Hoon will face 2005 world champions Howard Bach/Tony Gunawan from United States in the first round.

-- BERNAMA

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...