Korea Open Premier Super Series: Lee Chong Wei ready to shine - Preview
Malaysia’s best shuttler and World Number One, Lee Chong Wei, is ready to shine at the upcoming tournament of the 2012 Korea Open Premier Super Series, which will take place in Seoul, South Korea, from January 3-8.
The 29-year-old Malaysian has been enjoying a free ride in the first half of 2011 and won numerous Super Series tournaments. However, in the ending half, he delivered quivering performance and lost several matches in different tournaments to China’s Chen
Long and Lin Dan.
Chong Wei’s shaky performance in the last three months has put his top position in danger because the World Number Two, Lin, is just behind him on points table. But the Malaysian is determined to remain at the top by performing well in Korea Open.
The Malaysian finds a favourable draw in the Premier Super Series tournament as he will not meet any of the top three Chinese shuttlers including Lin, Long and Chen Jin, until the final of the event.
Chong Wei has been placed at the top in the Men’s Singles draw of the event. He will start his campaign against India’s Parupalli Kashyap, who has never won any match against the Malaysian. If Chong Wei wins the opening contest, he will meet the winner of
Ajay Jayaram of Indian and Shon Wan Ho of Korea.
The top seeded Malaysian is expected to play against Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien minh of Kenichi Tago of Japan, as both lower ranked shuttlers are set to meet in the opening round of the tournament.
If Chong Wei passes the quarter-final stage, he is expected to face Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark in the semi-final, if the Danish beats Indonesia’s Simon Santoso and Taufik in his way towards the top-4 stage.
The Malaysian has a wonderful record against Peter Gade, Santoso and Hidayat. He is expected win the semi-final battle no matter who comes to fight him from these shuttlers. If he lives up to the expectations, he will win the semi-final battle without any
problem.
In the title match of the Korea Open, Chong Wei is expected to face either Lin Dan or Chen Long. Both are creating problems for him and are a major threat to his top position. The Malaysian has a knack of losing against Lin in important matches in different
tournaments.
Lin has defeated Chong Wei in the final of 2008 Beijing Olympics and also in the final of 2011 Badminton World Championships. The Chinese always remained a stumbling block in his way to win titles at Olympics and World Championships.
However, this time Chong Wei needs to play with confidence if he wants to save his top position in Men’s Singles world rankings and remain as the top seed in the 2012 Olympic Games.
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