Tuesday April 10, 2007
Slight illness won’t floor Lee
By RIZAL ABDULLAH
Top seed and defending champion Lee Chong Wei
(pic) had a running nose and felt feverish but it did not stop him from joining his team-mates in a training session at the Indoor Stadium here yesterday.
Chong Wei opens the defence of the Asian Badminton Championships (ABC) men's singles title tomorrow against South Korea's Hwang Jung-woon. He won the title last year beating Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana 21-12, 21-16 in the final.
“It's just a slight running nose and slight fever. Nothing to worry about. I should be okay when the tournament gets underway on Wednesday,” said Chong Wei.
The 25-year-old Malaysian goes into the match against Jung-woon with the psychological advantage of having beaten the Korean in the second round of the Taiwan Open last year.
After the disappointing outings in the All-England and Swiss Open last month, which also saw his world ranking drop to number six, Chong Wei hopes to redeem himself in the ABC.
And he is not about to let a change in coach affect his game. Chong Wei is on his third coach in just three months. After the departure of China's Li Mao, he came under the charge of Wong Tat Meng before opting to train under Misbun Sidek just over a week ago.
“I am the defending champion and it is best that I take one match at a time. I have also just resumed training under Misbun. But it is not a bother because it was Misbun who helped develop my game during my younger days,” said Chong Wei.
But Chong Wei admitted that he had yet to come to grips with his All-England quarter-final exit at the hands of China's Chen Yu.
“Now my focus is on the ABC. And I hope not to disappoint the fans here. I like the crowd here. They played a big role in my victory last year and I hope to repay them for the support again.”
Meanwhile, Chen Yu is a no-show for the championships and no reason was given for his withdrawal at the team managers' meeting yesterday. His place will be taken by Malaysia's Tan Chun Seang, who will play in the qualifying tournament today.
http://www.thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/4/10/sports/17393251&sec=sports
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