JUNE WEI IN LINE TO REPLACE CHONG WEI AT ASIAN GAMES
June Wei the favourite to replace Chong Wei at Asiad
PETALING JAYA: In an unexpected move, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have named national shuttler Cheam June Wei to replace Lee Chong Wei in the men’s singles at the Asian Games in Indonesia next month.
BAM president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria said the 21-year-old who is the Dutch International champion is currently the preferred choice of national men’s singles head coach Datuk Misbun Sidek.
June Wei also finished as runner-up at the Finnish Open in April and the Austrian Open in February.
The national team’s hopes at the Asiad and World Championships in Nanjing was dealt a massive blow on Tuesday after the 35-year-old Chong Wei withdrew from the two tournaments due to a respiratory problem and will be out for at least a month.
“When I talked with Datuk Misbun on the possible replacement for Chong Wei in the men’s team and also the individual event, we considered three names.”
“Among the names considered were Iskandar (Zulkarnain Zainuddin), Lim Chi Wing and June Wei,” said Norza, adding that several fac- tors including Iskandar’s knee injury were discussed.
The BAM president said due to Chong Wei’s absence, the earlier target of three medals by the badminton team at the Asiad will have to be reduced to two.
Norza who is also OCM president said they will send in June Wei’s name as soon as possible as they will also need to file an appeal to the Indonesian Asian Games Organising Committee (INASGOC).
“Though the process of naming the athletes have already closed, but for specific cases like withdrawal because of medical reasons, we will appeal to INASGOC at the soonest,” said Norza”
He added that they are currently giving Chong Wei time and space to undergo his recovery.
“We are giving him time and privacy to be with his family to undergo the recovery process and maybe we can give updates within three weeks to a month.”
The other three in the men’s singles line-up are debutants Lee Zii Jia, Leong Jun Hao and Soong Joo Ven while the men’s doubles players are Goh V Shem, Tan Wee Kiong, Ong Yew Sin, Teo Ee Yi, Chan Peng Soon and Goh Soon Huat.