Source: The Star SINGAPORE: As the world's No 2 ranked male badminton player, Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei is regarded as one of his country's best hopes to win a medal at the 2008 Olympic Games. Over the last 12 months, Lee won four times and finished runner-up on three other occasions in the Super Series circuit. At the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Thursday, Lee beat compatriot Wong Choong Hann 17-21, 21-5, 21-9 to move into the quarter-finals of the US$200,000 ($275,909) Aviva Open Singapore 2008 Badminton Championship, the final Super Series tournament to offer ranking points for the Olympics, which will be held in Beijing from Aug 8-24. The top seed is on course for a shot of confidence ahead of the Games, much needed he says as he is already feeling the pressure. Speaking after his win, the 25-year-old said: "The Olympics happen once every four years, and there is a lot of pressure and expectation on me to win. "The whole of Malaysia wants a medal, preferably gold, and I really do not want to disappoint them. "To be honest, I do think a lot about it. There is a lot of pressure." Lee, who stands at 1.74m tall, is coached by former Malaysian great Misbun Sidek. The Badminton Association of Malaysia hired sports psychologist Frederick Tan to specifically manage Lee's mental well-being and the two have been working together for 18 months. Said the Perak-born shuttler: "My target for the Beijing Olympics is to win a medal and the key, I believe, is mental strength. "Having Frederick around has helped the mental side of my game tremendously. "Many people don't see the difference a sports psychologist makes. After a match, especially when I've not done well, a lot of people will try to console me and offer comforting words. "But sometimes, these words are useless to me. "Frederick however, can understand how I'm feeling from an athlete's perspective and offer constructive advice on how I can be mentally stronger." Both Lee and Wong will be Malaysia's representatives in the men's singles competition in Beijing. Based on Thursday's result, it is clear Lee is the better bet for a medal. After losing the first set, he moved up a couple of gears to win the tie in 40 minutes. "I took a while to get started, but I wasn't too worried as I've never lost to him in a singles' match since I was 21," said Lee. Lee will face Denmark's Joachim Persson in the quarter-finals on Friday. "I'm not thinking about whether I can win this, but I'm using the tournament to gain more confidence and a sense of the competition as part of my final preparations for the Olympics," he said. Lee made his debut at the Olympics in 2004 in Athens, when he fell to China's Chen Hong in the last 16. On his chances of success in Beijing, he said: "China will still be the overwhelming favourites. I just hope the judging will be fair to everyone."
LCW is from Kedah.....not Perak born....... LOL.....for the last line.....bolded.....super size qoute....
LCW is Penang Kia but not from George Town,he is from BUKIT MERTAJAM. Meanwhile,his buddy KBH and TBH are born in Kedah, both from Alor Setar if I'm not mistaken.
======================================================== Where is China's Chen Hong? ________________________________________________________________
If LCW doesn't learn how to shut his big mouth in front of the media, you can bet that everyone else will likely to be judged fairly in China, except for him. A simple thing like "something is wrong with your passport, too bad, you have to go back to Malaysia", and there goes your little chance of making a name for yourself, LCW.
i dont think china will doing that to him. if yes, i dont know what else i can say. no more sportmanship.
His hometown is in Bukit Mertajam and Bukit Mertajam is in Penang.So,it is nothing wrong to say LCW is from Penang.
What is wrong with LCW's statement? He is just giving his point of view.Nothing big deal. He don't have to shut his big mouth anyway,as long as his comment didn't hurt anyone.Is his comment make you uncomfortable / offended you or anyone else?
So why did LD complain about the unfair line judging in KO08? LD even had the cheek to affirm he's the rightful winner of KO08 in his blog even after his loss.You think other tournaments owe CHN players decent line judging while CO, CM and HKO reek in every possible way to help CHN win because CHN knows they cannot win when it's too clean.That's the saddest part about CHN badminton.And the biggest disgrace.
I thought the olympic qualifying period had alread ended by end of April? What is the name of the author? So many inaccurate info...
Relax guys... I guess LCW didnt really mean to provoke the CHN team through the media, and definitely not to play fire with LYB at his own backyard But I must agree that LCW has to be a little bit of tactful with his words in front of media... Nevertheless, what LCW said is nothing but 100% truth
Here is the source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sportsnews/view/353816/1/.html It was my mistake to claim the source from The Star... sorry, friday the 13th, i guess a bit blur in the morning... Yes, when I read it this morning, I already discovered few "inaccurate" info but nevertheless, it's still a very good article to read (at least I know that BAM hired a sport psychologist to help LCW... kudos to BAM
He he, one thing for sure, Jimbo, you really like purple. No wonder eagle cannot find the news in the Star newspaper, not from there, ha ha. The info on sports psy already announce in Msia media early 2008. But this article states 18 months, according to Msia media, it started end of 2007 or early 2008. Not that long, same pyschologist, Fred ..... LCw attributed his calm demeanor in Msia Open to this guy.
