HARDER FOR CHONG WEI TO RETURN

Time running out on competitive comeback by Aug 14

THERE is more bad news for former World No 1 Lee Chong Wei as he must now make a return to competitive action by Aug 14 and not Sept 15, or it would be tough for him to qualify for next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games.

This was confirmed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday, after realising that they had made a mistake with the earlier date.

The six-month (maximum) BWF protected ranking designated to the shuttler, who was diagnosed with nose cancer last July, is only valid for a year, and Chong Wei was granted eligibility

for it on Aug 15 last year.

The 37-year-old has not played in any tournament since reaching the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open last year.

Chong Wei was even forced to put his much-awaited comeback on hold twice (All England and Malaysia Open) after being advised by his doctor in Taiwan.

The three-time Olympic silver medallist is also doubtful for the Sudirman Cup in Nanning, China, on May 19-26.

Chong Wei is currently ranked No 74 in the world, but he is expected to slide down further as he is also out of the Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan, China on Apr 23-28.

The New Zealand Open on Apr 30-May 5 will kick start the oneyear Olympic qualifying period.

However, it is not the end of the world for the Malaysian, whose protected ranking will only be activated once he plays his first match in a BWF sanctioned tournament.

This means that Chong Wei can still make a comeback at the Australian Open on June 4-9, and still has his protected ranking of World No 3 (77,383 points) till the end of the year.

But it won't be easy for the ageing star as he will also have to do well in the remaining tournaments to earn enough ranking points.

The other downside is while the protected ranking allows Chong Wei to play in BWF World Tour tournaments and major events, it does not offer any seeding if his current world ranking is not high enough for the tournament.

In other words, the later Chong Wei makes a return, the harder it would get for him to collect enough points for Olympic qualification.

The world body will only consider the best 10 tournament results (BWF World Tour tournaments) over the one-year qualifying period.

A country is only allowed the maximum representation of two players or pairs if they are ranked within the top 16 (singles) or top eight (doubles).

So apart from having to worry about world ranking points, Chong Wei will also have to overtake several other Malaysian shuttlers, who are currently ranked above him.

The top two Malaysian shuttlers currently are Lee Zii Jia (No 22) and Liew Daren (No 25), while the rest who are ahead of Chong Wei include Chong Wei Feng (No 64), Soo Teck Zhi (No 68) and Soong Joo Ven (No 73).

Chong Wei has made it clear that he will only return when his body permits him, but the Penang-born is also hoping to make a fifth Olympic appearance next year.

It was already tough for him when it was earlier reported that his protected ranking would be voided after Sept 15, but with the latest development, it has become even harder for the 12-time Malaysia Open champion.

For the record, Spain’s Carolina Marin, South Korea’s Son Wan Ho and China’s Gao Fangjie are also out with long term injuries and have been designated protected rankings.

They too are waiting to make a comeback.