This is someThing special
Chong Wei relishes chance to work with legendary coach Hsien-hu
BUKIT JALIL: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei is thrilled to bits. He will have a chance to pick the brains of one of the best coaches in the badminton world.
The Malaysian will be playing for Guangdong Century City Badminton Club in the China League, which starts this weekend, and Tang Hsien-hu, also known as The Thing, is his team’s coach.
Hsien-hu, who coached Indonesia in the late 80s and can converse in Bahasa Indonesia, is also influential to China’s five-time world champion Lin Dan. He is credited with being the man behind Lin Dan’s success at winning the gold medal for the first time at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
Chong Wei, who leaves for China today, said he has crossed paths with Hsien-hu many times during his career but this will be the most exciting encounter.
“I have met and spoken to Hsienhu many times before but this is the first time that I will be working this closely with him. He will be my team coach during the league and I intend to treasure it,” said Chong Wei after a morning workout at the National Sports Institute (NSI) gymnasium yesterday.
“He has coached Lin Dan before. He is truly a respected coach in the world of badminton and I hope to learn as much as I can from him.
“I will also be in the same team as seniors Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (four-time world champions). The others in the team are Liu Xin, the China Masters champion (2013), and women’s doubles shuttler Tang Jinhua. The others are juniors and I am excited to be there.”
Besides good prize money, there are other advantages to playing in leagues as long as players know how to fit it into their schedule.
“As the world No. 1 player, I am sought after. I have played in several leagues now.
“This is a platform for me to promote
I have met and spoken to Hsien-hu many times before but this is the first time that I’ll be working this closely with him. — LEE CHONG WEI
the game,” said Chong Wei, who also participated in the Indonesian and Indian leagues this year.
“This is my fourth appearance in the China league. The quality of matches is outstanding and I can see the standard of their juniors too.”
On the situation at home with several changes taking place in the coaching structure, the reigning Japan Open champion hopes that Rashid Sidek will return to the coaching stable soon.
Last week, Rashid quit as the singles coach stating that he could no longer work under Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Talent Management Group (TMG) director Tan Aik Mong, who had made some changes to the coaching structure.
On Tuesday, though, Aik Mong quit the programme a day after BAM president Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff reverted to the original plan.
Chong Wei hopes that Rashid will return to the fold quickly.
“I was away in Japan when he quit but I am happy that the situation at the national centre is better now. I am the most senior in the team and I will do my best to encourage and motivate the players.
“I can push myself until 2016 and until then, I will try to help guide others to rise up,” he said.
On other plans, he said: “I have four moreSuperSeries inDenmark, France, Hong Kong and China. I will taper down my schedule in December. I do not plan to compete in any tournaments.” KUALA LUMPUR: It was a major blow for Malaysia’s second echelon of men’s singles shuttlers in the Indonesian Open Grand Prix Gold in Yogyakarta yesterday.
None of them made the cut for the third round. It was also a day to forget for Goh Soon Huat, the country’s top back-up shuttler.
Soon Huat, the Malaysian Open GP Gold winner, was forced to concede a walkover to Reksy AurezaMegananda after suffering an injury. He was then trailing 18-21, 9-15.
It was also a bad day for Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, Loh Wei Sheng and independent shuttler Mohd Arif Abdul Latif (pic).
Iskandar and Wei Sheng cleared their second round matches in convincing fashion but they were a class below the Indonesians in the next round round.
Iskandar was beaten 13-21, 12-21 by second seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro, the 2007 World Championships runners-up, in just 32 minutes. The former No. 1 Indonesian shuttler is coming back from a back injury and out to prove to coaching director Rexy Mainaky that he still deserves a place in the national team.
Wei Sheng failed to break the resolve of third seed DionysiusHayom Rumbaka, losing 16-21, 20-22 in 38 minutes.
Hopes were high on Arif to go far in the tournament as he was up against unheralded Christie Jonatan. But Christie showed his class with a 2116, 18-21, 21-18 win.
It was also all over for the scratch combination of Lee Meng Yean-Lim Yin Loo in the women’s doubles. They went down 21-23, 19-21 to China’s Luo Ying-Luo Yu in a 49-minute battle.
Yin Loo, however, managed to stay alive in the mixed doubles. She and Ong Jian Guo reached the quarterfinals by beating Indonesians Yodhi Satrio-Mahadewi Istirani Ni Ketut 2110, 21-12. The Malaysians will take on anotherIndonesianpair, EdiSubaktiarGloria Emanuelle Widjaya, for a place in the last four.