KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — The puzzle whether national badminton ace, Datuk Lee Chong Wei will be in action at the Sudirman Cup, was finally answered when the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) confirmed that he will not be participating in the prestigious championship.
BAM secretary general Datuk Ng Chin Chai said Chong Wei had to postpone his participation in badminton, after almost a year, at the doctor’s advice.
‘‘Chong Wei had been advised by the doctor against taking his recovery process lightly. He is not ready to take part in a championship yet.
‘‘Currently, for BAM and also Chong Wei himself, health is more important than badminton,’’ he said after chairing a Coaching and Training (C & T) Committee meeting at the Malaysian Badminton Academy, Bukit Kiara, yesterday.
Ng said it would be good if the former world number one player could make his appearance before August, otherwise, BAM would accept the decision and continue to support Chong Wei.
In the meantime, Ng said BAM did not set any target for the national badminton squad at the Sudirman Cup this time.
‘‘We believe it is very difficult for Malaysia to win the Sudirman Cup. As such, we pick a mix of senior and junior players to provide them exposure.
Meanwhile, team manager, Wong Choong Hann said he personally targeted the Malaysian team could beat the Indian team at the championship.
He also believed that the Malaysian team had an advantage in its doubles players compared to singles because India had great singles players such as K. Srikanth, Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu.
The Sudirman Cup competition which was scheduled to take place in Nanning, China from May 19 to 26 saw Malaysia voted in Group D with China and India.
List of Malaysian players to the Sudirman Cup:
Men’s singles : Lee Zii Jia, Cheam June Wei, Soong Joo Ven
Women’s singles : Goh Jin Wei, Soniia Cheah, Lee Ying Ying
Men’s Doubles : Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Teo Ee Yi-Ong Yew Sin, Nur Izzuddin
Women’s Doubles : Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen
Mixed Doubles : Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, Chen Tang Jie — Bernama
