PETALING JAYA, July 1 — BA of Malaysia (BAM) deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria refuses to set any target for former world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei for the World Championship in Jakarta on August 10-16.
“Lee showed tremendous impact by winning the Canada Open and US Open recently upon his return,” he said.
“He has proven himself before as being No. 1 so we don’t want to pressure him.
“We used to pressure him before by making him target gold. But this time we took a different approach and just want him to follow his instincts.
Norza said the more important thing is to ensure Lee qualifies for next year’s Rio Olympics.
“The back-to-back win is good for him to improve on his rankings.
“It doesn’t matter if he wins gold or silver. We just want him to qualify for the Olympics, that’s more important.
Lee, the double Olympic silver medallist and two-time world runners-up, returned to action last month after an eight-month ban.
The win in the lower-rated Grand Prix tournament will boost his world ranking of No. 99 as he bids to qualify for Rio de Janeiro and continues preparations ahead of the world championships.
The Taiwan Open next month — that will feature world No. 1 Cheng Long and Lee’s arch rival Lin Dan — would be a great platform for Lee to better his rankings.
However, BAM are still unsure whether they would send Lee to Taiwan.
“It depends on Lee. We will discuss with him if he wants to go.
“We understand he is tired after winning back to back tournaments.”
