Badminton: Perfect tonic for Chong Wei

Badminton: Perfect tonic for Chong Wei

By : K.M. Boopathy

NST ONLINE




Chong Wei is the World No 3.

THE China Masters, if nothing else, turned out to be ideal preparation for Lee Chong Wei ahead of the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur in August.
But the inability of the men’s doubles pairs to handle pressure has raised serious doubts about their chances in the tournament in Putra Stadium on Aug 13-19.

Chong Wei, the World No 3, secured a morale boosting win over Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the quarter-finals and it was encouraging to see him battling against World No 1 Lin Dan of China for three games before his defeat in the semi-finals.

Chong Wei left Chengdu with plenty of positives, especially gained in the match against Lin Dan, to compete in the Philippines Open which begins tomorrow and if he can maintain such performance right through the World Championships, there is an outside chance for him to wrest the world crown from his arch rival.

Lin Dan was under tremendous pressure due to a drop in form in recent months and had to endure a stiff test from Chong Wei in the early stages of the match and this is an indication that the reigning world champion can be beaten.
Chong Wei needs to pile the pressure on Lin Dan not just in the first game but throughout the match as that’s the only way to topple the latter and the fact that World Championships will be played at home should also give the Malaysian an advantage.

It must be remembered that Chong Wei’s initial two victories over Lin Dan were achieved in the 2005 and 2006 Malaysia Open finals before the former achieved his third win abroad in 10 meetings in the Sudirman Cup in Glasgow last month.

Chong Wei can approach the World Championships with more confidence if he can secure the Philippines Open title on Sunday.

Chong Wei will have to overcome Bao Chunlai of China in the last four and beat either top seed Chen Hong of China or Taufik in the final to secure the title.

Hafiz Hashim, if his tame defeat to Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand is any indication, is set to continue his inconsistency unless the shuttler is ready to shrug off his lackadaisical attitude.

Wong Choong Hann is the one who made an impact as he beat Chen Hong, Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro, and Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark before falling to Lin Dan in the final and the veteran should make the most of his good fortune as he is already in the twilight of his career.

The doubles players have always shown the tendency to allow their performance to drop prior to a major event and this is something national coach Rexy Mainaky should be wary off.

It was a similar situation just before the World Championships last year where all three pairs — Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat and Lin Wooi Fui-Fairuzizuan Tazari — were struggling and none got past the quarter-finals in Madrid.

Tan Fook-Wan Wah, who lost to Thailand’s Tesana Panvisvas-Sudket Prapakamol in the Thailand Open a fortnight ago, were eliminated by Indonesian No 2 Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto in the second round of the China Masters.

Fairuz, who now partners Zakry Latif, fell to China’s back-up pair Shen Ye-He Hanbin while Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock, despite making the last four, lost tamely to world champions Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun of China.

This probably leaves Rexy no choice but to remain faithful to Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, proven winners in crunch tournaments but currently struggling, as they are Malaysia’s best bet for title.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong will be competing in the Philippines Open and victory should boost their confidence ahead of the World Championships.

They need to beat the Indonesian-American combination of Candra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan in order to clinch the title and it will be a timely victory as the veteran pair are one of Kien Keat-Boon Heong’s stumbling blocks in the World Championships.