Chen’s withdrawal opens path for legendary Lee
dubai — MAlAysIAn lEGEnD LEE CHonG WEI, A Four-tImE WorlD SupErsErIEs FInAls wInnEr, HAs nEvEr won tHE EvEnt In DuBAI.
Now tHAt DuBAI Is stAGInG tHE sEAson-EnDInG CHAmpIonsHIp, LEE wIll BE HopInG to lEAvE tHIs CIty wItH tHE CovEtED tropHy In HIs HAnDs. THE FormEr worlD numBEr onE Got off to A flyInG stArt In Group A on WEDnEsDAy, DIsmAntlInG rIsInG HonG KonG stAr NG KA LonG AnGus 21-14, 2113 In Just 40 mInutEs.
LEE ovErCAmE somE EArly JIttErs In tHE first sEt to look In ComplEtE Control oF HIs GAmE. In tHE sEConD sEt, HE sHowED tHE kInD oF Form tHAt HElpED HIm ClInCH tHE HonG KonG OpEn SupErsErIEs tItlE lAst montH.
“I Just EnJoyED my GAmE toDAy. I Am HAppy to HAvE finIsHED tHE mAtCH In strAIGHt sEts,” LEE tolD Khaleej Times In tHE MIxED ZonE AFtEr wInnInG wHAt wAs A prEtty strAIGHtForwArD GAmE.
Now tHE FormEr worlD numBEr onE looks sEt to Book HIs plACE In tHE sEmIfinAls As RIo OlympICs CHAmpIon CHEn LonG pullED out oF tHE DuBAI EvEnt DuE to A knEE InJury.
“I Just try to EnJoy EvEry mAtCH tHAt I plAy. I Am not tHInkInG too muCH ABout tHE nExt stAGEs. I Just HopE to GIvE my BEst In tHE nExt Group mAtCH,” tHE 35-yEAr-olD LEE sAID.
LEE’s nExt opponEnt wIll BE SoutH KorEAn Son WAn Ho, tHE worlD No. 5 wHo won A BronzE mEDAl At tHE 2017 WorlD CHAmpIonsHIps In GlAsGow. “I wIll HAvE A rEst tomorrow. So my nExt GAmE Is on FrIDAy. I wIll plAy Son WAn Ho. I woulD lovE to top tHE Group, But I wIll BE finE EvEn wItH A sEConD-plACE finIsH In tHE Group,” LEE sAID.
LEE won HIs Four WorlD SupEr SErIEs tItlEs In 2008, 2009, 2010 AnD 2013 But nonE oF HIs vICtorIEs CAmE In DuBAI wHICH stArtED stAGInG tHE EvEnt From 2014. HE mIssED tHE InAuGurAl EDItIon In DuBAI BECAusE oF A DopInG BAn AnD FAIlED to quAlIFy For tHE sEAsonEnDInG tournAmEnt HErE nExt yEAr.
LEE DID EArn HIs spot In lAst yEAr’s CHAmpIonsHIps, But CoulDn’t GEt out oF tHE Group stAGE. Now wItH CHEn LonG wItHDrAwInG From tHE EvEnt, tHIs CoulD finAlly BE LEE’s yEAr In DuBAI. “I HopE to plAy A vEry GooD tournAmEnt HErE In DuBAI. All tHE MAlAysIAn FAns In DuBAI wIll HopEFully EnJoy my GAmE,” LEE sIGnED off.
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com
ON COURT ACTION
Men’s singles Group A: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) bt NG Ka Long Angus (Hong Kong) 21-14, 21-13 Group B: Shi Yuqi (China) bt Chou Tien Chen (Taiwan)21-19, 21-17; Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) bt Kidambi Srikanth (India) 21-13, 21-17 Women’s singles: Group A: Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) bt Sayaka Sato (Japan) 21-12, 21-19; PV Sindhu (India) bt He Bingjiao (China) 21-11, 16-21, 21-18 Group B: Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) bt Sung Ji Hyun (South Korea) 21-19, 21-16. Mixed doubles Group A: Tang Chun Man (Hong Kong)/Tse Zing Suet (Hong Kong) bt Praveen Jordan (Indonesia)/Debby Susanto (Indonesia) 21-13, 14-21, 21-16. Group B: Wang Yilyu (China)/Huang Dongping (China) bt Tan Kian Meng (Malaysia)/Lai Pei Jing (Malaysia) 2112, 22-11; Tontowi Ahmad (Indonesia)/ Liliyana Natsir (Indonesia) bt Chris Adcock (England)/Gabrielle Adcock (England) 21-18, 18-21, 21-14 Men’s doubles Group A: Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (Indonesia)/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Indonesia) bt Mads Conrad-Petersen (Denmark)/Mads Pieler Kolding (Denmark) 21-6, 21-16; Takeshi Kamura (Japan)/Keigo Sonoda (Japan) bt Li Junhui (China)/ Liu Yuchen (China) 21-17, 21-17. Group B: Mathias Boe (Denmark)/ Carsten Mogensen (Denmark) bt Takuro Hoki (Japan)/Yugo Kobayashi (Japan) 21-18, 21-14; Liu Cheng (China)/Zhang Nan (China) bt Lee Jhe-Huei (Taiwan)/Lee Yang (Taiwan)21-19, 24-26, 21-14. Women’s doubles Group A: Huang Yaqiong (China)/Yu Xiaohan (China) bt Chen Qingchen (China)/Jia Yifan (China) 21-14, 16-21, 21-19; Chang Ye Na (South Korea)/ Lee So Hee (South Korea) bt Shiko Tanaka (Japan)/Koharu Yonemoto (Japan) 21-16, 21-10. Group B: Yuki Fukushima (Japan)/ Sayaka Hirota (Japan) bt Hsu Ya Ching (Taiwan)/Wu Ti Jung (Taiwan) 21-13, 21-13; Kamila Rytter Jhul (Denmark)/Christinna Pedersen (Denmark) bt Jung Kyung Eun (South Korea)/Shin Seung Chan (South Korea) 21-18, 21-10.