World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei need not fear food poisoning again

Posted by Lucas Liau Lee Chong Wei, News 8:59 AM

KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei should not worry about having a repeat of a food poisoning episode in India when he competes in the World Championships.

Two cooks will accompany the Malaysian team for the championships, which will be held in Hyderabad from Aug 10-16.

In fact, the Malaysia team will stay at an apartment just 15 minutes away from the venue, the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, instead of the official hotel to enable the cooks to prepare the food.

The cooks made a visit to Hyderabad recently to ensure that all the facilities and kitchen utensils would be at place when they make a return with the team for the championships.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) general manager, Kenny Goh, said that they were leaving no stones unturned to ensure that all was well with the players when they compete in Hyderabad.

At the India Open at the same venue in April, Chong Wei suffered food poisoning after consuming food from outside the hotel. It resulted in a first-round defeat by Chen Long of China.

“The World Championships are important for us and we are making sure that all areas of preparation are looked into,” said Kenny.

“We are not staying in the official hotel with the players from other countries. We have decided to stay in an apartment to allow our cooks to prepare food for our players, coaches and support team.”

The other support team members in the Malaysian squad include physical trainers, a psychologist, nutritionist and sports code expert.

The Malaysian team, bidding to win their first-ever world championship title, will leave for Hyderabad on Aug 8.

Chong Wei is now in Seoul for a 10-day training stint under Li Mao and Misbun Sidek.