NATIONAL singles coach Misbun Sidek has ordered Lee Chong Wei to follow instructions and stop playing to the crowd if he wants to do well in the Swiss Open, beginning tomorrow, and the All-England championships next week. Misbun also warned that failing to do so could cost him a place in the Athens Olympics as his world ranking is still not strong enough to earn him an automatic berth. Chong Wei is currently ranked World No 11 and could join Wong Choong Hann, ranked fourth, in Athens but his latest problem, witnessed during the Thailand Open last month and the Thomas Cup Asian zone qualifier in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago, could complicate things. In the Thailand Open, Chong Wei threw away a good start against Ng Wei of Hong Kong in the quarter-finals and lost in straight games and his decision to play to the crowd cost him victory against World No 1 Lin Dan in the Thomas Cup qualifier where Malaysia lost 3-2 to China. "Chong Wei should stop being silly in tournaments. He blew away his chances in the Thailand Open and also let Lin Dan off the hook. It will do him no good being an entertainer," said Misbun in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. "He needs to be ruthless when he gets a chance to beat the elite players. If he can thrash them, he should just do that rather than opting for fancy tactics. "He will go nowhere in the Swiss Open and All-England if he continues his current behaviour. He needs to learn to follow instructions." Against Lin Dan, Chong Wei won the first game 15-3 but used fancy strokes too often in the second game to allow his opponent to take charge. Lin Dan battled back with a 15-13 win in the second and won the deciding game 15-6. The Swiss Open will not be easy as Chong Wei faces an uphill task where he is likely to meet World No 2 Lee Hyun Il of South Kora in the second round and the All-England, is expected to be equally difficult. The All-England draw will be conducted today. Chong Wei would surely want to forget his debut in Birmingham last year where the 22-year-old shuttler was down with flu and fell in the first round to Ng Wei. "I hope he has learnt his lesson. Beating Lin Dan could have been the turning point of his career as the Chinese player is the best at the moment. "Now Chong Wei must start from scratch and should rectify his errors in the Swiss Open." Roslin Hashim, Hafiz Hashim and Lee Tsuen Seng are also in the running for Olympic berths and any slip-up in Europe could make matters worse for Chong Wei.
chong wei could be watching too much of Ong Ewe Hock play tapes which i have seen (tapes) blowing away too many matches where Ong leads or grasped the first game easily.
Good thing is that Lee Chong Wei is being warned now. Misbun make sure he doesnt make the same mistake again. Its really dishearthening to watch them have a chance to win.. but lost it easily.
withdrawal lee chong wei withdrawed from swiss open and all-englan because of leg injury. what a pity!
more, LOL, practically in all OEH games i saw. Hmmm, coach warns of using too much dazzling techniques, LOL Never in my life have i seen or heard of coaches nor fans shouting players to slow down though, LOL *More rubbings*
Who was the silver medalist for 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games? I've forgotten, can someone refresh my mind. I remember Hafiz and Choong Hann were champion and bronze winner respectively
At first when i saw this thread, i was shocked.. But then after went inside, i'm relived to know that this thread was back dated 2004.... 'playful' is a suitable word then?
Damn THIS is what I call an Epic Up.... To get an 4 years old thread on the top... By the way, LCW is now one the players who look not to have feelings, looks like he well learnded his lesson from Mr Sidek
Yes, he seems pretty expressionless all the time. But in the second game, if not 'toy', maybe is become 'complacent'.
Lol 6-year necro. It can be nice reading old news again about the players we know today, realizing how much they have changed over the years.