Rashid: Jakarta results will tell if Chong Wei is affected by coach’s absence

Posted by Lucas Liau Lee Chong Wei, News 1:51 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: The performance of world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in the Indonesian Open this week will give a better indication on whether he is feeling the effects of not coming under the guidance of coach Misbun Sidek for the last two months.

In the Singapore Open last week, Chong Wei crashed to a shock second-round defeat by Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam.

Misbun has been away in China for almost two months to be with his wife, who is being treated for a kidney ailment. He will return home tomorrow and resume work when the players head for the Malaysian Open Gold Grand Prix in Johor Baru next week.

Point to prove: Lee Chong Wei can use the Indonesian Open this week to make amends for his shock second-round exit in the Singapore Open. — AFP

National chief coach Rashid Sidek said that Chong Wei had been diligent in training even in Misbun’s absence.

But he agreed that the workload on him had doubled since his elder brother was left with no choice but to tend to his sick wife.

“Right now, I am not prepared to say that Chong Wei’s shock defeat in Singapore was due to Misbun’s absence. We all knew why Misbun had to be in China and we had to make do with the situation,” said Rashid.

“Chong Wei is still following Misbun’s training programme. In fact, he has been just as committed and serious in training as he was before.

“I did not expect Chong Wei to lose to the Vietnamese, especially when his standard of play is way much better. There could be other reasons for the loss and Chong Wei will have to do some soul searching so that he can perform better in Indonesia.

“He is the top seed and based on the draw, he should reach the semi-finals for a match against Lin Dan of China. Then, the real test will begin for him.”

Rashid added that Misbun would be back to get Chong Wei in top shape for the World Championships in Hyderabad from Aug 10-16.

“I have been taking over my brother’s task while he was away. It is not easy to handle both the elite and the back-up squads players,” he said.

“Fortunately, Misbun will return on Wednesday now that his wife is getting better. Misbun will give his full concentration on getting Chong Wei ready for the world meet.”

The Indonesian Open and the Malaysia Gold GP are the last two tournaments that will be considered in determining the seedings of the players for the world championships.

And Chong Wei should be the top seed. But the big challenge for Chong Wei is to justify the top billing and end Malaysia’s elusive chase for a world championship title.