LEE Chong Wei’s brilliant run in the second part of the Super Series last year is back to haunt him as he has no choice but to compete in at least three more tournaments to consolidate his World No 1 ranking.
Chong Wei, despite not at his best physically, will be competing in the Denmark Open on Oct 21-26, the French Open on Oct 28-Nov 2 and will play in either the China Open (Nov 18-23) or the Hong Kong Open (Nov 25-30).
The Malaysian reached the semi-finals of the Denmark Open, won the French Open before finishing runner-up in the China and Hong Kong Opens, which fetched him high ranking points.
Having finished runner-up in the Japan and Macau Opens, Chong Wei realises he needs to recondition but skipping all four tournaments could well see him dropping out of the top five of the world rankings.
Chong Wei’s current total of 84,179 points will be cut to 59,379 points as last year’s points are wiped away and with qualification for next year’s World Championships in Hyderabad having already started, he doesn’t want this to happen.
“I wish I can skip more tournaments so that I can focus on conditioning in order to maintain my performance.
“However, I did very well in the same four tournaments last year and it will cost me dearly if I withdraw from all,” said Chong Wei at Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“I don’t mind if I drop a place or two but I will be out of the top five (if I skip all).
“My main target is to challenge Lin Dan when he returns to competition and obviously it is easier to improve my ranking points when he is not around.
“I want to be more selective in picking tournaments next year but I have to make a solid foundation for the World Championships qualification now.”
Chong Wei will also face a tougher challenge in Denmark and France as his two other rivals from China — Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin — will be competing and will be better prepared compared to the Malaysian.
However, Chong Wei is not too worried as the National Sports Institute (NSI) has already approved his request for physical and mental trainers Rosdie Ghani and Fred Tan to be with him during the European tournaments.
