2008/11/04 BADMINTON: Lin Dan back to haunt Chong Wei By : Ajitpal Singh OLYMPIC champion Lin Dan will make his return to international badminton at the China Open in Shanghai on Nov 18-23 and this does not augur well for Lee Chong Wei as he continues to bid for his first title as World No 1. Lin Dan, the second seed, has been absent from tournaments since defeating Chong Wei in the Beijing Olympics singles final in August. Chong Wei, who is under tremendous pressure to maintain his World No 1 ranking, has failed to stamp his dominance in three recent tournaments. He failed at the final hurdle of the Japan and Macau Opens, losing to Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro and former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, respectively. Realising that Lin Dan would soon make a return, the 26-year-old Malaysian skipped the Denmark Open two weeks ago, to prepare for the just concluded French Open. However, it did not have the desired effect as Chong Wei was again denied by Taufik, this time in the semi-finals in Paris. Lin Dan will not be his only rival as the China Open has attracted many top shuttlers. Among those competing are South Korea's Park Shun Hwan, China's Chen Jin, Bao Chunlai and Taufik. Peter Gade Christensen, who nailed the Denmark and French Opens, will also be a major threat. Meanwhile, former national doubles players Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah will also be in action, together with World No 6 Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Zakry Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari. China's Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun will renew their partnership, after playing with different partners in Denmark and France, in Shanghai. South Korea's Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae are another pair making their return after the Olympics. Wong Mew Choo, the seventh seed, will be defending the title she sensationally won last year but judging from her recent performances, she will find it tough. She lost to Susan Hughes of Scotland in the opening round in Paris. Denmark Open champions Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui are the second seeds, behind World No 1 Du Jing-Yu Yang, in the women's doubles
i think u in wrong tournament thread liao...uncle...hehe...this is china master (1)thread...not china open(2)...and the news if for CO2(ops...not carbon dioxide ya...hehe)
I believe LCW will still be WN1 even if he were to give Shanghai a miss.But it's encouraging to see that he's in better physical shape in Paris than in Macao. So he should be ok if he meets TH again in CO even as TH continues to astound all.In fact, all top players will be on their toes as it's hard to tell who's gonna be electrifying given that young guns can just show dramatic improvement in the space of one or two tournaments. Let's hope Misbun has the good sense to concentrate his efforts on LCW (and HH and WMC) instead of spreading himself thin acorss all his charges.(After all, Nicol David doesn't just remain at the top with just talent alone. She has one coach and one trainer to herself.That matters.)
