CHONG WEI SEEKS HAPPIER ENDING IN DUBAI

Chong Wei seeks happier World Superseries Finals ending

KUALA LUMPUR: Dubai has not been a happy hunting ground for Lee Chong Wei.

But the Malaysian is hoping for a change in fortunes in the United Arab Emirates when the World Superseries Finals begins on Wednesday at the Hamdan Sports Complex.

The World Superseries Finals is being held for the fourth and final time in Dubai.

Chong Wei was forced to withdraw from the 2014 edition because he had to serve an eight-month ban for a doping violation.

He returned from his suspension in May in 2015 but he didn’t have enough points to qualify for the 2015 edition.

He made it to the Finals last year as one of the eight qualifiers but failed to clear the group stage.

This time, the world No. 2, fresh from winning the Hong Kong Open last month, is hoping to leave his mark in Dubai.

“I’m hoping to achieve my best results in Dubai this time,” said Chong Wei, who has won the Finals four times in 2008 (Kota Kinabalu), 2009 (Johor Baru), 2010 ( New Taipei City, Taiwan) and 2013 (Kuala Lumpur).

“The Finals is also held for the last time in Dubai. This is my only chance to get it right,” he said.

Chong Wei is one of the eight qualifiers for the men’s singles event. The others are South Korea’s Son Wan-ho, Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, Shi Yuqi and Chen Long of China, Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan and Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong.

“These are the usual suspects. We’ve played regularly in the circuit. It all depends on who can play confidently on match day,” he said.

“I’m feeling good after winning the Hong Kong Open. The Finals is my last tournament for the year and I hope to end the year on a good note,” added the three-time Olympic silver medallist.

Chong Wei has lost to all the players in recent times except for Yuqi and Tien-chen.

Meanwhile, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced yesterday that two qualifiers in the women’s singles – Nozomi Okuhara and Carolina Marin have withdrawn from the Finals due to injury issues.

Nozomi will be replaced by Chen Yufei of China while Marin’s place is given to Sayaka Sato of Japan.

The other women qualifiers are Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan, Sung Ji-hyun of South Korea, P.V. Sindhu of India, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand and China’s He Bingjiao.

In the mixed doubles, Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong of China have declined the invitation to play and have been replaced by Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping of China.