March 28 NST COMMONWEALTH Games champion Lee Chong Wei, in the absence of the world’s elite players, is set to clinch his first Asian Badminton Championships title which begin in Johor Baru tomorrow. Having already won the Swiss Open in January and winning the men’s singles gold medal with ease in Melbourne on Sunday, top-seeded Chong Wei has only one obstacle, Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro, standing between him and the Asian crown. The absence of top shuttlers, especially from China, has given Chong Wei an easy path until the semi-finals where he is likely to meet Sony, a three-time Asian champion, who beat the World No 2 in their last meeting in the team event of the Manila Sea Games last year. However, current form and Chong Wei’s excellent home record suggests that he will be the player to beat. Should Chong We beat Sony, he is likely to meet second seed and compatriot Hafiz Hashim in a title showdown, that is if Hafiz can advance from a string of tough matches and overcome his inconsistency. Up-and-coming Indonesian Simon Santoso, who toppled Chong Wei in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Sea Games, will provide the biggest test when he meets Hafiz in the third round. A win over Simon will set up a quarter-final encounter against another experienced shuttler, Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, and assuming the Malaysian advances, it gets tougher as Hafiz is expected to meet either joint-third seed Wong Choong Hann or China’s Chen Yu in the semi-finals. In the men’s doubles, a world class field will be in action as Indonesia have sent their best led by World No 2 Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto. Malaysia’s best bets are newly crowned Commonwealth Games gold medallists Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat but they are drawn to meet Candra-Sigit in the semi-finals. Choong Tan Fook will resume his combination again with regular partner Lee Wan Wah, returning from a three-week layoff due to knee injury, and they are likely to meet Sea Games champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in the quarter-finals. In the women’s doubles, Commonwealth Games champions Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui have a realistic chance of winning their first grand prix title as they are the top seeds in the four-star event. Though players from China and South Korea are absent, Pei Tty-Eei Hui must still overcome their bogey pair Chien Yu Chin-Cheng Wen Hsing of Taiwan in the last four before thinking about the title. Wong Mew Choo, seeded joint third, should also face a difficult time to justify her seeding as she will be up against Japan’s Kanao Yonekura in the quarter-finals.
Posted: 29 March 2006 2009 hrs Badminton: Malaysia's Lee fears running out of steam after first round win JOHOR BARU, Malaysia : Top-seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia won his opening match at the Asian Badminton Championship, but questioned whether he has the physical and mental strength to claim the title. After seeing off Macau's Wong Keng Hou 21-4, 21-6 at the US$125,000 tournament, the recently crowned Commonwealth Games gold medallist said he feared he was running out of steam. "It has been a tough two months of competitive badminton for me. There was the Thomas Cup qualifying round in Jaipur, India in mid-February and then the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne last week. And now there is the ABC meet. I wonder if I my body can take it," he said. "I am also worried about my mental state. There has been a lot of pressure on me in Melbourne to deliver the gold for Malaysia. And I am also the number-one seed in the ABC. Can I cope with the expectations, more so playing in front of my home crowd? I hope so," said Lee. Lee will play South Korea's Lee Cheol-Ho in the second round, and barring an upset, the world number two is tipped to meet defending champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in the semi-finals. In the absence of Athens Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat, who is nursing a knee injury, Sony and compatriot Simon Santoso are carrying Indonesia's hopes in the men's singles at the five-day meet. In the men's doubles they are represented by the top two seeded pairs Chandra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, and Luluk Hadiyanto and Yulianto Chandra. China have left their best men's singles players at home, which means world number-one Lin Dan and former All-England winner Chen Hong are not playing at Johor Baru. The country is represented instead by Chen Yu. Meanwhile, China's champion women shuttlers Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang are resting at home in preparation for the Uber Cup in Japan in May. That leaves Taiwan's Wang Chen as the number one seed with Japan's Kaori Mori seeded second. It also leaves the door open to players such as Taiwan's Cheng Siao Chieh and Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist, to stake their claims to the women's singles title. - AFP/de Men's singles, first round: Lee Chong Wei (MAS) bt Wong Keng Hou (MAC) 21-4, 21-6 Lee Cheol Ho (KOR) bt Rohan Castelino (IND) 21-9, 22-20 Chetan Anand (IND) bt Kennevic Asuncion (PHI) 26-24, 20-22, 21-9 Marcus Wijanu (INA) bt Kindelpitiyage Karunathilaka (SRI) 21-16, 21-6 Ng Wei (HKG) bt Hendra Wijana (SIN) 21-17, 21-19 Poompat Sapkulchananart (THA) bt Lee Tsuen Seng (MAS) 21-8, 20-22, 21-19 Yu Li (CHN) bt Hsieh Yu Hsing (TPE) 21-7, 21-17 Kuan Beng Hong (MAS) bt Pashupati Paneru (NEP) 21-5, 21-8 Yanbo Qiu (CHN) bt Anand Pawar (IND) 21-14, 21-17 Park Sung Hwan (KOR) bt Askar Ormanov (KAZ) 21-4, 21-5 K. Yogendran (MAS) bt Wong Wai Hong (HKG) 21-17, 21-14 Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA) bt Mao Heng (CAM) 21-8, 21-2 Sho Sasaki (JPN) bt Leong Kin Fai (MAC) 21-12, 21-6 Yeoh Kay Bin (MAS) bt Dinuka Edirimuni (SRI) 21-11, 21-12 Chin Sheng Ming (TPE) bt Nguyen Quang Minh (VIE) 21-12, 21-12 Women's singles, first round: Wang Chen (HKG) bt Julia Wong (MAS) 21-14, 21-7 Soratja Chansrikut (THA) bt Wang Yihan (CHN) 17-21, 21-12, 21-19 Eriko Hirose (JPN) bt Chien Yu Chin (TPE) 21-12, 17-21, 21-18 Saina Nehwal (IND) bt Lydia Cheah (MAS) 21-9, 21-18 Lee Yun Hwa (KOR) Cheng Shao Chieh (TPE) 21-14, 21-12 Li Li (SIN) bt Wong Sin Yee (HKG) 21-12, 21-18 Jiang Yanjiao (CHN) bt Hirayama Yu (JPN) 21-7, 21-15 Pai Min Jie (TPE) bt Salkjit Ponsana (THA) 21-19, 16-21, 21-19 Trupti Murgunde (IND) bt Xing Aiying (SIN) 21-12, 23-21 Kanako Yonekura (JPN) bt Meemek Monthila (THA) 21-18, 21-18 Ng Ka Shun (HKG) bt Huang Chia Hsin (TPE) 21-13, 13-21, 21-11 Chen Li (CHN) bt Wong Mew Choo (MAS) 22-20, 21-11 Yip Pui Yin (HKG) bt JUn Jae Yun (KOR) 21-19, 19-21, 21-18 Seo Yoon Hee (KOR) bt Lee Hyun Jin (KOR) 21-10, 21-17 M. Sutheaswari (MAS) bt Thilini Jayasinghe (SRI) 21-9, 21-11 Kaori Mori (JPN) bt B.R Meenakshi (IND) 21-14, 21-12
Must win title, no more excuse It will be a disspointment if Lee Chong Wei doesn't win the title. Malaysia players have to learn how to live up to expectation instead of providing excuses again and again.
It should be Cambodia, bear in mind that this is Asian Badminton Championship. Cameroon is from Africa???
