My return not before cancer all-clear: Lee

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian badminton great Lee Chong Wei is to seek the all-clear from his doctors in Taiwan after his treatment for nose cancer, and probably won’t be back on the courts until next month, reports said Monday.

Despite earlier comments from Malaysia’s badminton chief that Lee’s return to the training courts was imminent, the 36-year-old said he still needed the green light from specialists.

The three-time Olympic silvermedallist has spent five months on the sidelines after being diagnosed with early-stage nose cancer and undergoing chemotherapy in Taiwan.

“I need to go for my follow-up check-up with doctors in Taiwan later this month, and see what they say then,” Lee said, adding January looked like the earliest he could come back.

SINDHU IN GROUP A

India’s Sandeep Verma has been clubbed with the likes of Japan’s Kento Momota and Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the BWF World Tour Finals to be held in Guangzhou (China) from December 12-16. In women’s singles, PV Sindhu is in Group A along with the likes of Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) and Akane Yamaguchi (Japan).

The top two players or pairs (in doubles and mixed doubles) from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, for which a knockout draw will be conducted.