Chong Wei stays upbeat
Badminton icon assures fans that he will return to the court soon
NANJING: Malaysia’s badminton icon Datuk Lee Chong Wei (pic) may be down, but he is certainly not out.
The 35-year-old assured fans in a brief video recording that he would return as soon as he was back in good health.
The world No. 2 has been diagnosed with a respiratory related disorder and is currently undergoing treatment in Taiwan.
In his first public response since the news about his career-threatening illness broke, he indicated that he was not ready to throw in the towel on his badminton career.
“I’ll get back to the badminton court as soon as possible,” said a determined Chong Wei in a video released by his sponsor Yonex on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Sunday.
In the 51-second clip, believed to be taken in a hotel room, Chong Wei apologised to Chinese badminton fans for not being able to attend a new racquet launch in conjunction with the World Championships to be held here.
He spoke about the product before thanking his long-time friend and rival Lin Dan of China, who attended the launch on his behalf.
“I’m sorry for not attending the Yonez AX99 new product launch and the BWF World Championships.
“Thanks to Lin Dan for attending this activity and I wish him all the best,” he added.
Chong Wei has withdrawn from the ongoing World Championships and Asian Games in Indonesia, to be held from Aug 17 to Sept 3, after suspecting something was amiss following a semi-final exit at the Indonesian Open in Jakarta this month.
Prior to the Indonesian Open, he was in smashing form when he upstaged hotshot Kento Momota of Japan en route to winning his 12th Malaysian Open title.
With the positive vibe exuded by Chong Wei, there is a possibility for him to represent Malaysia at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, if he recovers quickly enough.
Lee Chong Wei and Chinese superstar Lin Dan have been foes on court and friends off it, for the last 15 years. And Lin Dan does not want their rivalry to end just yet. Lin Dan believes oldies like him and Chong Wei have a wealth of experience. “I hope to play against him again when he’s fully recovered.” And Lin Dan wants a shot at playing Chong Wei again, who is undergoing treatment for a respiratory-related disease, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. >
THE world’s two greatest men’s singles players Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei have served badminton fans with epic matches for over 15 years.
And Lin Dan does not want the rivalry between them to end abruptly.
The 34-year-old Lin Dan still looks forward to high- quality matches that bring the best from both and wants it to last for another two years at least.
The five-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist said he will be waiting for his rival-cumfriend Chong Wei to battle it out at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
For now, Lin Dan is sad that his foe is down with a respiratory-related disease and hopes the Malaysian will return from the two-month treatment in Taiwan with flying colours.
He says Chong Wei’s priority now should be to take his time to recover from his illness.
“I hope to play against him again when he’s fully recovered. The Tokyo Olympics is still two years away. For oldies like us, the one that matters is the big stage,” said Lin Dan.
“Although the younger players have the edge over us in terms of fitness but match experience is important, too. We, the old guys, have that!”
The duo have met 40 times since 2004, with Lin Dan winning 28 of them.
That includes the Olympic finals in 2008 Beijing and 2012 London and the World Championships finals at the 2011 London and 2013 Guangzhou.
Lin Dan admitted his rivalry with Chong Wei has come a long way.
“We know each other’s strength and weaknesses since our teenage days where we chased the same dream of representing our countries and goals of becoming world and Olympic champions,” Lin Dan said.
“We now have our own families and children.
“Yet, we are still chasing our dreams and keep on fighting.
“It's very rare to have such a strong opponent throughout my career. I treasure it very much,” said Lin Dan.
Yesterday, Lin Dan began his quest for a record sixth world crown by strolling to a 21-14, 21-14 win over Holland’s Mark Caljouw in the first round of the World Championships.
He hopes to go one step better after losing to Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in the final at last year’s edition in Glasgow, Scotland.