Lee Chong Wei intends to grace the arena for next two years – Badminton News
Malaysian maestro Lee Chong Wei is not thinking about an immediate retirement as he vowed to represent the country at international level for the next two years.
However, the two-time Olympic silver medallist played down his chances of shouldering the responsibility in 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
World Number two shuttler Chong Wei asserted Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to develop new world beaters as he will not be swinging his arms in the next edition of the mega event.
He said, "It is time to look and plan for the future as I surely can't be expected to be playing in the 2016 Olympics."
The 29-year-old badminton ace clearly stated that he is planning to continue just for two years as there will be prestigious team events like World Championships, Asian and Commonwealth Games taking place in next couple of years.
Chong Wei briefed that he wants to win his first ever World Championships and Asian Games while defending his Commonwealth Games title. He also fears that his fitness will be diminishing after these international tournaments.
He said, "I can see myself playing for another two years as I am targeting the World Championships and the 2014 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. If I go on beyond that, I will be playing with a walking stick."
The Malaysian legend, who was honoured with the title of “Datuk” for his services in the field of sports, emphasised that national body should conduct special hunt to increase talent pool.
Meanwhile, he also showed contentment over BAM’s plan of action to prepare back-up squad for the senior level. He declared this a crucial time for badminton future of the country.
He said, "We need to move on and develop the back-up singles players and also find new ones. It is good that BAM is already laying the groundwork for this is very crucial for the future."
Later, Chong Wei stated that there will be only Chen Long in the arena after the retirement of Chinese shuttler Lin Dan and this will be a fair chance for Malaysia to regain their status in the arena.
BAM is planning to spend Maybank multi-million ringgit sponsorship on its four-year programme of High Performance Team.
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