THE celebrations looked a touch overdone but Wong Choong Hann can be forgiven for the outpouring of emotion following his Thomas Cup quarter-final second singles win over Japan’s Kenichi Sato at Istora Senayan yesterday.
Victory, which gave Malaysia an unassailable 3-0 lead, was achieved in fairly routine fashion but the celebrations were actually more of thanksgiving as Choong Hann felt that he had atoned for what happened in the 2006 edition in Tokyo.
Then, a ruptured Achilles tendon when playing second singles against South Korea’s Park Sung Hwan at the same stage meant the end of Choong Hann’s campaign and there were also doubts as to whether the 2003 world championships silver medalist would ever play again.
“I feared the worst when I entered the court, thinking whether I would suffer the same fate. I disappointed the team in Tokyo and I’m thankful I managed to win my match and secure Malaysia’s winning point today (yesterday),” said World No 15 Choong Hann.
In Tokyo, Malaysia managed to beat the Koreans 3-2 but Choong Hann’s absence was felt in the semi-finals against Denmark as they made their exit.
There were no signs of injury yesterday though as Choong Hann won 21-13, 21-18.
“National chief coach Yap Kim Hock also advised me to relax. That helped as I stayed focused and victory was easily achieved.”
But having safely come through the quarter-finals, Choong Hann must now prepare to play a major role in tomorrow’s semi-final against champions China.
Choong Hann is expected to play World No 3 Bao Chunlai, a player he has not beaten in their last two meetings.
In fact, Chunlai leads the head-to-head 6-3 but Choong Hann reckons he, and Malaysia, have a chance against China if they play as a team.
“We have to follow the instructions of the coaches and if we do that, we can win.”
If Malaysia do, it will be interesting to see just how emotional Choong Hann gets.
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