KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — National badminton champion, Datuk Lee Chong Wei is giving priority in his preparations for the Asian Games compared to the BWF World Championships in Nanjing, China.
He said his appearance in the Jakarta Asian Games would be his last as he is unlikely to play again in the next Asian multi sports event which is held every four years.
Chong Wei who is scheduled to be in action at the World Championships from July 30 to Aug 5 will have a 10-day break before putting his focus on the Asian Games from Aug 18 to Sept 2.
“This Asian Games will be my last. In another four years, I will be 40 years old. So I have to be very targeted in my strategy in both tournaments this time around,” he said when met at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara here today.
As in the Olympics and World Championships, the world number seven player has never won a gold medal in the Asian Games.
His achievements in the Asiad were a silver medal in the Guangzhou edition in 2010 and two bronze medals in 2006 (Doha) and 2014 (Incheon).
On grooming his successors, Chong Wei said young players who were selected as sparring partners in the recent Thomas Cup competition were not merely assisting the team during warming up or to watch the matches.
He hoped these players had made full use of their roles to learn from the seniors and perhaps even from top players especially those from Japan, Denmark and Indonesia.
“To reach the top, we have to accept defeat. But we have to keep on improving and be critical in assessing our weaknesses to come back even stronger,” he added. — Bernama
