Mighty Chong Wei expected to rule again in Alor Setar

ALOR SETAR: The Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold, which begins today at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium here, is the first tournament that offers Olympic ranking points.

And the home fans can expect the best from world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in a tournament that features two big guns from China – Chen Jin and Bao Chunlai.

The top seed and defending champion Chong Wei is not expected to hold his punches even though he has won four of the five tournaments that he competed in this year.

National coach Rashid Sidek said that his money was Chong Wei, who won the India Open last week, to keep intact his superb form on the international stage.

“Chong Wei is the best ever Malaysian player. Even during my time, it was quite impossible to go on winning for several months. He is truly very focused,” he said.

“At this GP Gold, I see only Chen Jin and Chunlai as the players who can give him a good run. Chong Wei should get past the others easily.

“And with the home crowd rooting for him and more importantly with Olympic Games ranking points at stake, Chong Wei should rule again.”

Chong Wei opens his campaign against Robin Gonansa of Singapore and he is tipped to play against world champion Chen Jin in the semi-finals.

Chen Jin has a poor record against Chong Wei, having won only twice in nine meetings – the last being at the All-England three years ago. And Chen Jin has to come through a quarter that has Park Sung-hwan of South Korea.

Chunlai is the favourite to reach the final from the other half of the draw following the absence of second seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.

Rashid hoped that other Malaysian singles players would also rise to the occasion.

“It can be rather boring to bank on Chong Wei all the time. It becomes too predictable. I hope the second stringers will create some excitement too,” he said.

The other Malaysians in the fray are Liew Daren, Chan Kwong Beng, Chong Wei Feng, Tan Chun Seang, Mohd Arif Abdul Latif and Goh Soon Huat.

Except for the men’s singles, it will be tough for Malaysia to reap successes in the other four events.

Hopes are high on top seeds Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong but Indonesians Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan can certainly spoil their party in the men’s doubles. And there are also the Japanese pairs to ruffle some feathers too.

With a stronger field in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles, it will be virtually impossible for Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying to win the titles.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 2:24 PM. Filed under Latest News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0