NO WEI, HE’LL SLOW DOWN
Chong Wei back to training after back-to-back tournaments
NO wonder Lee Chong Wei is still on top of his game. He returned to training almost immediately after bowing out in the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open last week.
Chong Wei, who turns 36 in October, resumed training at the Academy Badminton Malaysia gymnasium, and will return to court training on Friday.
Initially, the World No 4 was only scheduled to get back on court on Monday to begin preparation for the World Championships in Nanjing, China on July 30-Aug 5.
National men’s singles coach Hendrawan said: “At first Chong Wei said he wanted to rest, but he has his physical targets and he knows what he wants. That is why, upon returning from Jakarta, Chong Wei went straight to the gym.
“That is just the kind of person Chong Wei is. He knows what he needs to do to stay fit, especially with the World Championships later this month. We all know how much that means to him. The fire and desire in him is just incredible.”
Age may be catching up with the former World No 1, but Chong Wei silenced his critics when he bagged his 12th Malaysia Open crown last month by beating Japan’s Kento Momota in the final.
Chong Wei, however, could not repeat his feat in Jakarta last week, losing to the same opponent in the last four.
Apart from the World Championships, Chong Wei also hopes to win, for the first time, an Asian Games gold medal in Jakarta on Aug 18-Sept 2.