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LEE CHONG WEI … in the fray.
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3rd December, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: World number one Datuk Lee Chong Wei will lead six other Malaysian shuttlers who qualified for the US$500,000 (RM1.7 million) Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Super Series Masters Finals which will be held at the Likas Indoor Stadium in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from Dec 18-21.
According to the list of qualified shuttlers issued by the BWF, the other Malaysians who made the cut to be in the best eight of each category are Zakry Abdul Latif/Mohd Fairuzizuan Tazari, Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (men’s doubles) and Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui (women’s doubles).
“The BWF World Super Series Masters Finals promises to be a fitting end to this Olympic year with the top eight qualifiers – from the 2008 Series – in each discipline battling it out for money and prestige.
“Qualification, however, is limited to two players or pairs per country in each discipline,” BWF said in a statement yesterday.
The top eight players/pairs qualified were selected through the 12 tournaments of Super Series standing and not from the BWF World ranking.
Badminton super power China still dominated the list of players qualified for the event after securing nine spots in the Finals.
Meanwhile, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) general manager Kenny Goh said since the event in Kota Kinabalu was the very first final for the Super Series, the association was happy all Malaysian top shuttlers made the cut.
“Unfortunately, our top women’s singles, Wong Mew Choo, did not qualify. But it would be better for her to stay focused, nursing her injury and return stronger in the next season,” he said when contacted here yesterday.
BAM, he said, adjusted the training for those who qualified for the finals as playing in front of the home crowd in Kota Kinabalu could be an advantage or pressure for the shuttlers.
In the men’s singles, Chong Wei is leading with the most number of points, followed by Chen Jin (China), Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Indonesia), Joachim Perrson (Denmark), Peter Gade (Denmark), Lin Dan (China), Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) and Chan Yan Kit (Hong Kong).
In the men’s doubles, Zakry/Mohd Fairuzizuan are second in the list while Kien Keat/Boon Heong are in the second last spot.
Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia are leading the men’s doubles with the most points, followed by Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark in the third spot, Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae (South Korea), Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (Denmark), Candra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan (Ina/Indonesia) and Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun (China).
Malaysia’s badminton jewel Wong Mew Choo just missed one spot to qualify when she secured the ninth place in the Super Series standing.
In the women’s singles event, Zhou Mi of Hong Kong leads with the most points, followed by Tine Rasmussen (Denmark), Wang Chen (Hoong Kong), Zhu Lin (China), Lu Lan (China), Pi Hongyan (France), Xu Huaiwen (Germany) and Hwang Hye Youn (South Korea).
The country’s top women’s pair Pei Tty/Eei Hui lead the women’s doubles, followed by Du Jing/Yu Yang (China), Lilyana Natsir/Vita Marissa (Indonesia), Zhao Yunlei/Cheng Shu (China), Lena Frier Kristiansen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Denmark), Ha Jung Eun/Kim Kin Jung (South Korea), Maeda Miyuki/Suetsuna Satoko (Japan), Lee Kyung Won/Lee Hyo Jung (South Korea).
In the mixed doubles, the Indonesian pair of Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir are number one contender in points accumulation, followed by He Hanbin/Yu Yang (China), Thomas Laubourn/Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Denmark), Lee Yong Dae/Lee Hyo Jung (South Korea), Athony Clark/Donna Kellogg (England), Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen (China), Robert Blair/Imogen Bankier (England/Scotland), Sudket Prapakamol/Suralee Thoungthongkam (Thailand).
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