KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Wong Choong Hann will be out to redeem his pride as the Malaysian number one by winning at least one of the titles in the upcoming back-to-back Open tournaments in South Korea and Japan. The 27-year-old has had a sluggish start to the year and in his recent outing in Europe, he crashed out in the early rounds of the Swiss Open and All-England. The Korean Open begins on Wednesday in Choongju City and the Japan Open will be played in Tokyo the following week. Choong Hann refuted suggestions yesterday that the below par performances in the Swiss Open and All-England indicated that he had grown complacent. He is currently ranked fourth in the world and is certain to remain among the top 16 when the Olympic qualifying period ends on April 30. Besides the Olympics in Athens in August, he is also assured of a place in the team for the Thomas Cup Finals in Jakarta in May. Choong Hann made it clear that he would go all out to win a title before he features in the two major tournaments. “I did not take any of my matchers lightly. I was not in form in the Europe tournaments,” said Choong Hann, who lost 3-15, 3-15 to teammate Mohd Hafiz Hashim in the second round of the All-England. “My movement on the court was certainly not satisfactory. I have been rebuilding my physical condition and my agility after the outing in Europe. I want to react in the right way on court, especially when I play against top players like Lin Dan (of China). “I am certainly not taking my place in the national team for granted. I am still hungry to win titles and I will go all out to achieve it in the upcoming tournaments.” Choong Hann, who emerged as the Taiwan Open champion in November last year, received a timely boost yesterday. He was named as the spokesperson for the Desknote A535, UCH Technology and Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) at a signing ceremony attended by Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, International Badminton Federation vice-president Datuk Punch Gunalan and the Badminton Association of Malaysia's (BAM) representatives. On his one-year link to the firm, Choong Hann said: “It is a good way to promote the sport. Our sport certainly lacks sponsorships and endorsement. “Badminton is my livelihood and to have a sponsorship like this is certainly great. But it is a pity that not many athletes enjoy this benefit.” Choong Hann is the second player under the BAM banner to enjoy individual sponsorship. Doubles player Lee Wan Wah has a one-year deal with Shokubutsu, a producer of toiletries.
