Chong Wei will now play in selected tourneys

Posted by Lucas Liau Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan, News 9:05 AM

PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei will finally do what three-time world champion Lin Dan of China has been doing over the past one year – to make appearances in selected tournaments.

And he has decided to skip the Denmark Open, which will be held in Odense from Oct 20-25, and also an earlier domestic tournament, the Terengganu Open from Sept 30-Oct 3.

The short breaks in his hectic schedule will give him time to work on some areas of his game and peak in selected events.

Former world No. 1 Lin Dan has competed in six international tournaments thus far this year while Chong Wei had featured in 12.

I will follow you: Lee Chong Wei will now plan to peak in selected events just like world champion Lin Dan.

National chief coach Rashid Sidek said: “We have reviewed his schedule and for now, Chong Wei has dropped one international and one local tournament.

“He will stay home during the Denmark Open and concentrate on rising up to the expectation in the French Open. He was a semi-finalist at France last year, and the goal is to go one step better.’

But Chong Wei’s immediate target is to capitalise on the absence of Lin Dan in the Japan Open, which will begin today in Tokyo.

Another Chinese player, Chen Jin, has withdrawn from the tournament. Chong Wei ran out of steam against Lin Dan in the semi-finals of the China Masters last week.

Lin Dan went on to show that having won the world title for the third time in Hyderabad last month had not diminished his fire and hunger to win more tournaments when he tamed Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand to take the title.

Today, Chong Wei will get to gauge where he stands against Boonsak, who played exceptionally well to upset Denmark’s Peter-Gade Christensen and China’s Chen Jin to reach the China Masters final.

The match will also be a sneak preview on what can be expected from both the shuttlers, who will resume their rivalry in the Laos SEA Games in December.

The other Malaysian men’s singles players in the fray are former internationals Wong Choong Hann and Pei Wee Chung, who will take on South Korean Park Sung-hwan and Andrew Smith of England respectively in the first round.