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England stint whets Wei Feng’s appetite for big stage

PETALING JAYA: National elite shuttler Chong Wei Feng believes he has had a good training stint at Bath University earlier this month and is looking forward to a good outing in the Vietnam Open which begins today.
With world No.1 Lee Chong Wei not participating in the SEA Games in Jakarta later in November, Wei Feng is likely to get the nod to be in the team but he will need to prove his worth first.

However, the 24-year-old Kedahan who has only won one international competiton – the Malaysia International Challenge – back in 2009 will be hard pressed to make an impression in Ho Chi Minh City.
Wei Feng, who is ranked No. 149 in the world, will have a tough first round match against ninth seed Derek Wong of Singapore. Derek defeated Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat in the world championships earlier this month.

However, should he clear the first hurdle, Wei Feng stands a good chance of making it through to the quarter-finals where he may face Japan’s Sho Sasaki.

“The centralised training stint at Bath was a good experience for me and hopefully it will bring me good results,” said Wei Feng, who was there as a sparring partner for Malaysia’s World Championships team.
“I have not been handed the easiest of draws as Derek has obviously improved a lot. It showed when he beat Taufik in the world championships last month.”

“However, I will treat every match like a final and will try my best to reach the quarter-finals at least,” said Wei Feng.

Besides Wei Feng, the other Malaysians in the men’s singles event are Liew Daren, Chan Kwong Beng, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, Lim Fang Yang, Misbun Ramdan Misbun, Goh Soon Huat, Saw Weng Jun and Mohd Syawal Mohd Ismail.

Asian Junior champion Zulfadli Zulkifli will also be participating.
In the men’s doubles, Goh Wei Shem-Lim Khim Wah, Mohd Lufti Zaim-Vountus Indra Mawan, Ow Yao Han-Tan Wee Kiong and the newly formed pair of Ong Soon Hock-Mak Hee Chun are tasked with carrying the Malaysian challenge.

The professional pair of Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen, who are bidding to qualify for the London Olympics next year, are also competing and are seeded fourth.

They are tipped to meet top seeds Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata of Japan in the semi-finals.


THE STAR

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