ants
04-12-2004, 08:17 PM
KUALA LUMPUR: National men's singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei will lead a small group of Malaysian Olympic hopefuls in a last ditch attempt to qualify for the Athens Games in the Asian Badminton Championships (ABC) from April 20-25 at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium.
The four-star ABC meet is the last tournament that offers Asian players qualifying points for the Olympics. Only the top-16 ranked players listed after the April 30th deadline will make the Athens Games from Aug 13-29.
Yesterday, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) released the names of the Malaysian squad for the ABC. Besides Chong Wei, the other men singles players selected were Mohd Roslin Hashim, Yeoh Kay Bin, Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Lee Tsuen Seng, Kuan Beng Hong and K. Yogendran.
Currently, Chong Wei is ranked in the top-16 of the world but the 22-year-old youngster is determined not to blow away his chances to represent Malaysia for the first time in the Olympics by doing badly in the ABC.
His main aim is not to lose to any players ranked lower than him. And hope that none of the lower ranked players upset the formbook in the ABC meet.
“I would have been very confident of making the trip to Athens if I did not lose in the first round of the Japan Open last week,” said Chong Wei after his morning training session at the Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara here yesterday.
He lost 15-11, 11-15, 16-17 to South Korean Park Sung-hwan in the first round of the five-star tournament. A week earlier, he had upset Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen to reach the quarter-finals in the Korean Open.
“I was so frustrated. I lost to the Korean by just one point in the rubber game. If only I had cleared the first round, I would have been ranked higher and would certainly make the trip to Athens. Now, I may drop a few rungs when the new world ranking list comes out. (The ranking list on Thursday will include points from the Japan Open).
“For me, my place is still not safe. I may drop to 14th or 15th in the world rankings and it is too risky. I cannot afford to lose to lower ranked players in the ABC meet. There are several players, who are ranked below me and they will certainly be motivated to do well in the ABC meet too,” said Chong Wei.
Without taking into account the Japan Open results, Chong Wei is currently ranked 12th in the world. He is followed by Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro (13th), teammate Mohd Roslin Hashim (14th), Singaporean Ronald Susilo (15th), Hong Kong's Ng Wei (16th), South Korean Park Tae-sang (17th), Hong Kong's Agus Hariyanto (18th), Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana (19th), Denmark's Niels Christian Kaldau (20th) and Germany's Bjoern Joppein (21st).
Currently, only 395.71 points separate Chong Wei and Joppien in the world rankings. For a four-star tournament, the champion earns 420 points; semi-finalists get 357; and quarter-finalists are given 294 points.
The Europeans will be out to score some points when they compete in the four-star European Team and Individual Championships from April 16-24 in Geneva, which is their last Olympic qualifying tournament.
Like Chong Wei, Japan Open quarter-finalist, Roslin will also be hoping that he will not squander his chance of playing in his Olympics.
The other Malaysian hopefuls for the Olympics out to do well in the ABC, are men's doubles players Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng and women players Wong Mew Choo and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty
The 24-year-old Chong Ming, who lost in the early rounds of the Korean and Japan Opens, said: “It will certainly be a great boost for us (Choon Eng and I) in our race to qualify for the Olympics if we win the ABC title. But it will not be easy. China and Indonesia will be represented by some of their top players.”
China have included their world number six pair Sang Yang-Zheng Bo while Indonesia have named Korean Open champions Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto, Sigit Budiarto-Trikus Hariyanto and Candra Wijaya-Halim Hariyanto.
TheStar
The four-star ABC meet is the last tournament that offers Asian players qualifying points for the Olympics. Only the top-16 ranked players listed after the April 30th deadline will make the Athens Games from Aug 13-29.
Yesterday, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) released the names of the Malaysian squad for the ABC. Besides Chong Wei, the other men singles players selected were Mohd Roslin Hashim, Yeoh Kay Bin, Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Lee Tsuen Seng, Kuan Beng Hong and K. Yogendran.
Currently, Chong Wei is ranked in the top-16 of the world but the 22-year-old youngster is determined not to blow away his chances to represent Malaysia for the first time in the Olympics by doing badly in the ABC.
His main aim is not to lose to any players ranked lower than him. And hope that none of the lower ranked players upset the formbook in the ABC meet.
“I would have been very confident of making the trip to Athens if I did not lose in the first round of the Japan Open last week,” said Chong Wei after his morning training session at the Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara here yesterday.
He lost 15-11, 11-15, 16-17 to South Korean Park Sung-hwan in the first round of the five-star tournament. A week earlier, he had upset Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen to reach the quarter-finals in the Korean Open.
“I was so frustrated. I lost to the Korean by just one point in the rubber game. If only I had cleared the first round, I would have been ranked higher and would certainly make the trip to Athens. Now, I may drop a few rungs when the new world ranking list comes out. (The ranking list on Thursday will include points from the Japan Open).
“For me, my place is still not safe. I may drop to 14th or 15th in the world rankings and it is too risky. I cannot afford to lose to lower ranked players in the ABC meet. There are several players, who are ranked below me and they will certainly be motivated to do well in the ABC meet too,” said Chong Wei.
Without taking into account the Japan Open results, Chong Wei is currently ranked 12th in the world. He is followed by Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro (13th), teammate Mohd Roslin Hashim (14th), Singaporean Ronald Susilo (15th), Hong Kong's Ng Wei (16th), South Korean Park Tae-sang (17th), Hong Kong's Agus Hariyanto (18th), Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana (19th), Denmark's Niels Christian Kaldau (20th) and Germany's Bjoern Joppein (21st).
Currently, only 395.71 points separate Chong Wei and Joppien in the world rankings. For a four-star tournament, the champion earns 420 points; semi-finalists get 357; and quarter-finalists are given 294 points.
The Europeans will be out to score some points when they compete in the four-star European Team and Individual Championships from April 16-24 in Geneva, which is their last Olympic qualifying tournament.
Like Chong Wei, Japan Open quarter-finalist, Roslin will also be hoping that he will not squander his chance of playing in his Olympics.
The other Malaysian hopefuls for the Olympics out to do well in the ABC, are men's doubles players Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng and women players Wong Mew Choo and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty
The 24-year-old Chong Ming, who lost in the early rounds of the Korean and Japan Opens, said: “It will certainly be a great boost for us (Choon Eng and I) in our race to qualify for the Olympics if we win the ABC title. But it will not be easy. China and Indonesia will be represented by some of their top players.”
China have included their world number six pair Sang Yang-Zheng Bo while Indonesia have named Korean Open champions Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto, Sigit Budiarto-Trikus Hariyanto and Candra Wijaya-Halim Hariyanto.
TheStar