World No 1’s confidence on the rise after back-to-back titles
Datuk Lee Chong Wei
LEE Chong Wei has put his quest for Olympic gold back on track with back-to-back Super Series titles but what he does over the next six months will determine if he will be successful in London.
It has been a fabulous run for Chong Wei over the last two weeks. He won the Korea Open where he beat China's Olympic champion Lin Dan, and then brushed aside another rival from China, Chen Long in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open before making short work of Japan's Kenichi Tago to secure his eighth Malaysia Open crown on Sunday.
His confidence has soared and his legion of fans will be looking forward to seeing him win Olympic gold in July.
The fact that Chong Wei was not at his best but yet managed to beat Lin Dan and Chen Long speaks volumes of the Malaysian's ability to dig deep when the chips are down.
This attitude will prove crucial when Chong Wei faces a better prepared Lin Dan and Chen Long in coming tournaments.
What is vital though is Chong Wei that continues training harder and keeps his physical level at the highest.
Video analyses must be done continually and if more scientific methods need to be added to his repertoire, then do it by all means.
Chong Wei has reiterated about cutting down on tournaments to prepare for the Olympics and he must keep to his intentions.
The Malaysian will compete in the Thomas Cup qualifiers in Macau next month and the All England in March before the India Open Super Series which will be his last tournament during the Olympic qualifying period which ends in April. These events should be enough to maintain a top two position in the world ranking.
If Chong Wei maintains his World No 1 spot, he should avoid Lin Dan, who is likely to be ranked second, until the final of the Olympics.
Both players would prefer such a situation rather than meet in the semi-finals.
There is no assurance that Chong Wei is guaranteed Olympic gold as Lin Dan has big match temperament and the London Olympics will be his last hurrah.
While Chong Wei has proved time and again that he has the heart and desire to battle for Olympic gold, the situation looks bleak for doubles Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong if they refuse to change their attitude.
Kien Keat looks to be the culprit and although he has said on numerous occasions that he needs to do something different to revive his career, his latest performance in the Malaysia Open has shown he has done nothing much.
It is a common knowledge that his physical fitness is his biggest worry and this boils down to lack of training. If Kien Keat refuses to work harder, there is no way he and Boon Heong can fight for a medal as the gold medal will be a tussle between South Korea's Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae and Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong are not even in a position to battle for bronze as other pairs like Denmark's Mathis Boe-Carsten Mogensen and Ko Sung Hyun-Yoo Yeon Seong of South Korea are better equipped to be among the medallists.
-NEW STRAITS TIMES
1 comment:
Chong Wei is such a good athlete and he always maintain his focus in the game and that is a quality that I would like to have when I am doing my pay per head bookmaking job
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