Chong Wei Bids Du-Bye to His First World Super Series Match Win

Image: Badmintalk Badminton YouTube

Three-time Olympic silver medalist and world number one badminton player, Lee Chong Wei struggled to perform his way through his first match at the World Super Series in Dubai yesterday. The 34-year old was defeated by Korea’s Son Wan Ho with a score of 10-21, 16-21 in the first Group B match.

Chong Wei who was recently crowned his fifth “Player of the Year” Award on Monday appears to have lost his groove since the first game. Son Wan managed to beat Chong Wei within 38 minutes, redeeming himself after he first beat Chong Wei back in 2012 during the Indian Open finals. Chong Wei’s hopes of winning his fifth titles open seems to be bleak as only the two top in the group will progress to the semi-finals.

The national shuttler also admitted he wasn’t in his best condition which led him to making grave errors during the match. “I wasn’t in my best condition and I wasn’t really feeling it on court. I made too many mistakes in the first game, allowing Wan Ho to walk away with an easy win,” Chong Wei told NST.

National singles coach, Hendrawan, however, did not lose hope on Chong Wei. “It’s probably because Chong Wei hasn’t played any competitions for quite a while. He has yet to get into his rhythm. He was making a lot of mistakes and wasn’t his usual self. He also didn’t look comfortable on court. But it’s not over yet as Chong Wei still has another group match. We’ll discuss and come up with a strategy in order for Chong Wei to bring his game back up,” Hendrawan told The Star.

Chong Wei is set to meet Hong Kong’s world number nine player, Angus Ng Ka Long today. Let’s hope that Chong Wei will get his mojo back in time and we wish him the best of luck in this tournament.