'Chong Wei will win with clear head'

RASHID Sidek (pic), the only Malaysian to win an individual medal in the Olympics, believes Lee Chong Wei will emulate him in Beijing. However, this can only happen if Chong Wei goes to Beijing with a clear head and not focus too much on winning gold.

Rashid's advice is not because he doubts Chong Wei's talents but, as history has shown, aiming too high may well backfire.

"The best example of this is Denmark's Peter Gade Christensen who went into the Sydney Olympics as the clear favourite but was beaten in the semi-finals by (eventual champion) Ji Xinpeng (of China)," said Rashid yesterday.

A distraught Christensen failed to recover from the setback and lost the bronze medal playoff tamely to another China player, Xia Xuanze.
World No 1 Lin Dan of China suffered an even worse fate as he was eliminated in the first round by Singapore's Ronald Susilo in Athens 2004.

That said, Rashid remains confident that Chong Wei can win a medal.

In fact, he reckons Chong Wei has a better chance than he had in Atlanta.

"Chong Wei is consistent, has regularly won tournaments which will give him confidence. He has a better chance of winning a medal compared to me in Atlanta," said Rashid.

"However, he must avoid thinking too much about winning the gold as this will just increase the pressure. He must also be prepared for any situation.

"What if he loses in the semi-finals?

"He must recover for the bronze medal playoff and normally players whose hopes are too high will lose morale. This is what happened to Peter Gade.

"Chong Wei must take it one match at a time and must be well prepared for the semi-finals which will be very crucial. He must know how to handle the pressure.

"Having said that, Chong Wei has a good chance of securing a medal. He is consistent against most of the top players."

Rashid was not among the favourites in Atlanta and his personal target was to beat top seed Joko Suprianto of Indonesia in the last eight, which he did.

Although he lost the semi-final to China's Dong Jiong, the win over Joko spurred him to beat another Indonesia, Heryanto Arbi in the bronze playoff.

Chong Wei may also face a tricky path as South Korea's Lee Hyun Il or Park Sung Hwan could lie in wait as both will be unseeded.

Chong Wei is expected to meet either World No 3 Bao Chunlai of China or World No 4 Chen Jin, also from China, in the semi-finals.

The draw will be conducted in Beijing tomorrow but irrespective of what it throws up, Chong Wei will return with a medal if he heeds Rashid's advice.

NST