Unexpected back injury crushes Lee’s world title hopes
Latest News 11:18 AM
THE sombre look on the face of national singles coach Misbun
Sidek says it all. And it has nothing to do with him fasting in Paris.
His blue-eyed boy Lee Chong Wei has probably thrown a golden opportunity to become the country’s first singles world champion after losing to Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the quarter-final on Friday.
His path was cleared with the premature exit of China’s Lin Dan but an unexpected back injury crushed the Malaysian’s hopes.
Lin Dan also crashed out in the quarter-finals losing tamely to South Korean Park Sung-hwan (pic) on Friday.
Misbun knows too well that it was Chong Wei’s best chance to go far in his fifth world championships.
“He had a good chance here but the injury spoiled everything for him. It is quite sad but I know Chong Wei did the best he could,” said Misbun. Misbun said that there was a moment of chaos in the Malaysian camp when Chong Wei complained of his back pain after the third round match against Rajiv Ouseph of England on Thursday.
“Something on the lower back of his spine snapped during the match against Rajiv. Chong Wei continued to play. It was only at night that the symptons showed,” he said.
“It was swollen and we did all we could to ease his pain. He could not bend as much as he could.
“He even slept face down on the eve of the match against Taufik.
“In fact, he was given a lot of pain killers prior to the match against Taufik.
“Despite the setbacks, he managed to steal a game from Taufik. But Taufik stepped up the tempo in the rubber game and kept pushing the shuttle deep into base. Eventually, it was too much for Chong Wei to keep up and he gave up.”
Misbun said it was difficult to explain the situation.
“Sometimes, you want something so much and it does not happen. And whatever said are seen as excuses. To me, it is just unfortunate that Chong Wei suffered the injury at the wrong time.
“This injury is common to players. I think, it is similar to what Sony (Dwi Kuncoro) and Simon (Santoso) are suffering from.”
While determined to put the past behind, Misbun said he would make careful observation of Chong Wei.
“I am not worried at all about his skills. I have to look into his physical condition. We have named him for the China Masters (Sept 14-19) and Japan Open (Sept 21-26).
Misbun, however, is confident that Chong Wei would be ready to to play in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi from Oct 3-14.
His blue-eyed boy Lee Chong Wei has probably thrown a golden opportunity to become the country’s first singles world champion after losing to Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the quarter-final on Friday.
His path was cleared with the premature exit of China’s Lin Dan but an unexpected back injury crushed the Malaysian’s hopes.
Lin Dan also crashed out in the quarter-finals losing tamely to South Korean Park Sung-hwan (pic) on Friday.
Misbun knows too well that it was Chong Wei’s best chance to go far in his fifth world championships.
“He had a good chance here but the injury spoiled everything for him. It is quite sad but I know Chong Wei did the best he could,” said Misbun. Misbun said that there was a moment of chaos in the Malaysian camp when Chong Wei complained of his back pain after the third round match against Rajiv Ouseph of England on Thursday.
“Something on the lower back of his spine snapped during the match against Rajiv. Chong Wei continued to play. It was only at night that the symptons showed,” he said.
“It was swollen and we did all we could to ease his pain. He could not bend as much as he could.
“He even slept face down on the eve of the match against Taufik.
“In fact, he was given a lot of pain killers prior to the match against Taufik.
“Despite the setbacks, he managed to steal a game from Taufik. But Taufik stepped up the tempo in the rubber game and kept pushing the shuttle deep into base. Eventually, it was too much for Chong Wei to keep up and he gave up.”
Misbun said it was difficult to explain the situation.
“Sometimes, you want something so much and it does not happen. And whatever said are seen as excuses. To me, it is just unfortunate that Chong Wei suffered the injury at the wrong time.
“This injury is common to players. I think, it is similar to what Sony (Dwi Kuncoro) and Simon (Santoso) are suffering from.”
While determined to put the past behind, Misbun said he would make careful observation of Chong Wei.
“I am not worried at all about his skills. I have to look into his physical condition. We have named him for the China Masters (Sept 14-19) and Japan Open (Sept 21-26).
Misbun, however, is confident that Chong Wei would be ready to to play in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi from Oct 3-14.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 11:18 AM.
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