Chong Wei works extra hard before capturing first India Open crown
Top News 9:12 AM
PETALING JAYA: It was Labour’s Day and Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei had to work extra hard to get past Dane Peter-Gade Christensen for his first India Open title in New Delhi yesterday.
World No. 1 Chong Wei’s 21-12, 12-21, 21-15 win in the final earned him US$15,000. It was the Malaysian’s third Super Series title this year, having won the Malaysia Open and the All-England.
Imperious form: Lee Chong Wei in action against Denmark’s Peter-Gade Christensen during the India Open men’s singles final in New Delhi yesterday. – EPA
Chong Wei also won the 2010 Super Series Masters Finals in Taiwan in January.
Yesterday’s win was all the memorable for Chong Wei as he achieved it on his girlfriend Wong Mew Choo’s 28th birthday.
It also went some way towards erasing some painful experiences he had experienced in India – especially when he crashed out in the opening round to China’s Chen Long in the home tournament in 2009.
And, later that year, he succumbed to a quarter-final defeat to Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in the World Championships in Hyderabad.
Yesterday’s final saw Chong Wei getting off to an explosive start. But it was not too long before the Dane came charging back to show that he had come well prepared to counter the Malaysian’s fast and furious pace as well as his tricky and deceptive moves.
And the 34-year-old Christensen’s laborious work in defence and persistence at the net paid off when he took the second game and held a comfortable 5-1 lead in the decider.
It was then that Chong Wei staged his spectacular comeback to break the Dane’s resolve and extend his excellent record against the top European player to 13-1.
National coach Teh Seu Bock was pleased to see the top-seeded Chong Wei neither panicked nor gave up when the chips were down in the decider.
“It was good to see that Chong Wei regained control after losing the second game. This shows that is becoming better as a player and is more focused,” said Seu Bock in a telephone interview. “It was not an easy win for him at all today. Peter was in immaculate form. I am happy that Chong Wei handled the pressure very well.”
The Malaysian flew home last night to prepare himself for another big task – maintain his local domination.
Chong Wei will be defending his title in the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold event, beginning on Wednesday in Alor Setar.
It will be a big challenge to maintain his glorious run, especially with the likes of Chen Jin and Bao Chunlai of China and Indonesian Taufik Hidayat in the fray. But Seu Bok said: “It is my hope that he can be the champion once again.”
Posted by Lucas Liau
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