Our very own ... Special One

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have come up with a “special” arrangement to help resolve the feud between world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei and technical director Morten Frost. The two will no longer work together as Chong Wei will now be part of a “

ULU KINTA: Doubles player Tan Kian Meng (pic) will not hold his punches at the National Badminton Championships despite it being his first tournament after a knee injury.

Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, the reigning Malaysian Masters champions, are the mixed doubles top seeds in the RM270,000 tournament that starts at the Sri Perdana Hall in Ulu Kinta, Perak, today.

The lanky Kian Meng pulled out from last week’s Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, due to the knee injury.

He is hoping that the national meet would provide him with a good warm-up before his back-toback Europe assignments.

World No. 9 Kian Meng-Pei Jing will take part in the second-tier German Open in Mulheim next week and the Superseries season- opener All- England in Birmingham from March 7-12.

“This national meet will serve as a good practice ground and warm-up before the two major tournaments. I’m taking it seriously because there are a few good opponents,” said Kian Meng, who won the title with Pei Jing last year.

Pei Jing is looking at winning her fourth national title. Besides the title with Kian Meng last year, she also won it with Chan Peng Soon in 2013 and Tan Aik Quan in 2015.

This year, Kian Meng-Pei Jing’s main rivals are second seeds Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and the scratch pair of Chan Peng Soon-Chow Mei Kuan.

Kian Meng admitted that his recent injury had given him a bit of a scare.

“The cartilage on my left knee is damaged. This is my first serious injury,” he said.

He hopes that a good showing at the national meet will put him in the right frame for his maiden German Open and All-England outings.

“I’m really looking forward to playing in my first All-England ... the draw is quite good. Our goal is to reach the quarter-finals,” he said.

In the All- England, the eighth-seeded Kian Meng-Pei Jing will take on Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet in the first round. If they win, they will be up against South Korea’s Yoo Yeon-seong-Kim Ha-na next.

If they clear the early rounds, they will likely face fourth seeds Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto of Indonesia in the last eight.