Badminton: Chong Wei aims to bounce back in Indonesian Open By RIZAL ABDULLAH SINGAPORE: A first-round casualty in the just concluded Aviva Singapore Open, national number one Lee Chong Wei was still in high spirits when he left with his team-mates yesterday for the Indonesian Open, which begins in Jakarta tomorrow. In five rounds of the inaugural Super Series this year, Chong Wei has not got past the quarter-finals. The 25-year-old Penangite lost to Chinese players in the first three rounds of the Series – Bao Chunlai in the Malaysian Open; Chen Jin in the Korean Open; and Chen Yu in the All-England. In the Swiss Open, he was beaten by Singapore’s Ronald Susilo and in the Singapore Open, he crashed out against team-mate Mohd Hafiz Hashim. In the Asian Championships (ABC), which was held before the Singapore Open, Chong Wei lost to Indonesian Taufik Hidayat. Chong Wei received a lot of flak for his defeat by Hafiz but he is taking it all in his stride and looking forward to better fortunes in Jakarta. “Winning and losing is part of the game. Players have highs and lows. “We get praised when we emerge as the champion and get criticised when we lose. I have come to live with this,” he said. “I am going through a lean spell but I am still the number one in the country. I am gearing towards the World Championships in KL in August. I have put behind me the defeat by Hafiz and I am fully focused on the Indonesian Open. “I can't predict how far I will go. The Indonesian Open also offer ranking points for the Beijing Olympics next year and it has also drawn a tough field.” Coach Misbun Sidek has faith in Chong Wei bouncing back. “He is much faster on the court now. His fitness has also increased. It will be only a matter of time before he starts winning again,” said Misbun. In Jakarta, Chong Wei is drawn to play against Denmark’s third-ranked player Joachim Persson in the first round. But he may face another opponent because Persson is injured and did not start in the Singapore Open. Hafiz, who was beaten by eventual champions Boonsak Ponsana in the second round of the Singapore Open, has a tough first-round opponent in Indonesian Simon Santoso.
I have lost count the no. of times he had NOT gone past the Qtrs. But I think I will not have to feel lost anymore in the IO COZ he is going to blizzzzzzzz and fleezzzzz the competition ! I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt particularly if they said so themselves, and here, he said I am fully focused on the Indonesian Open. That is good enough for me !
I heard many players said they will bounce back for the next tournament. but bear in mind, for every tournament, there is only one winner. LCW needs to pass through better players such as Lin Dan and Taufik before winning.
Sure thing, nothing is meant to be easy. However, thanks to Boonsak, our guy LCW now thinks he can emulate that effort. The Earth moves with patience !
I juz cant understand y everytime when he meets China player,he will lost!! the most unbelieveable thing is he is beaten up by HH..He can win all the tournament b4 is juz because luck is on his side??
i think he has regained his confidence but still IO isnt going to be easy!!!! its well-known as one of the toughest in the world grand prix and in this case: SUPER SERIES!!! but with the withdrawal of old foe, Lin Dan i think he has a chance but still it depends on himself...
He is the big brother,No.1 in Mas..Hope he really can bounce back n become an example to the youngs..
I prefer to see LCW bounce back and stay at the top. I dont like to see Hafiz bounce back but drop back again painfully. Of course I support LCW all the way as long as he wants to win again.
i have been dissapointed many times by lcw, but i still support him staunchly. hope to see Malaysia winning a title in MS this year finally...
LCW managed to avoid Lin Dan in the coming IO. Chen Yu withdrew too. Hope he goes all the way. Taufik is waiting for LCW.
Put it this way : his detention class is over. His 'ear squats' have taught him humility and got him to work harder. Bring on Taufik, Boonsak, and Bao. No worries !
Remember that sony had been down also in the last 2 yrs after winning Bronze medal in Olympics..injured..lost...lost...now..he plays much better..not same level as LCW...lets see how far LCW can go this week...
wat on my mind is... if LCW can't reach semi final of IO even tat there are no CHN threat or even BWF top 8 challenge... then he may need to say goodbye for the 2007 WC! maybe someone will say tat there is still Indonesian homeground-Simon.. but if u want to bounce back, u need to prove it to ppl!!!
