Wei Feng Chong makes strong bids to elevate his status at international level – Badminton News
Malaysia’s budding shuttler Wei Feng Chong was struggling at the beginning of this season but it seems he has found his lost form which will help him to find respectable position in the arena.
The 25-year-old campaigner has performed beyond expectations in recently concluded Japan Open and Chinese Taipei Open and these brilliant performances have earned great deal of admiration and respect for him in the badminton circles.
Wei Feng, who holds 30th spot in the World rankings, have been playing exceptionally well for last couple of months as he stunned higher ranked challengers like former World and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, Boonsak Ponsana, Ajay Jayaram and
Kenichi Tago.
In 2012 edition of Japan Open, the Malaysian shuttler locked all the attention by casting out World number ten Japanese player Kenichi Tago in the opening match.
Though, he struggled a bit in the beginning and lost first set with a notable deficit but Wei Feng made amends in ending two sets.
In pre quarter-finals, he stretched his successful run and forced Ajay Jayaram to bow down. This time he took just two games to wrap the showdown in a favourable manner.
His splendid straight-set victory led him to the quarter-finals of this Super Series where he was up against the mighty Lee Chong Wei.
However, he did not surrendered tamely and saved his honour to some extent by putting a decent fight in both games.
Wei Feng registered his mark also in Yonex Chinese Taipei Open as he surged into the semi-finals despite of the presence of world beaters like Kenichi Tago, Hu Yun, Wong Wing Ki and Daren Liew.
He was underrated earlier in this event but he kick-started his campaign with an impressive win over Alamsyah Yunus of Indonesia and then never looked back.
The Taipei shuttler Chun Shih Kuei was his next victim as Wei Feng did not show any mercy to the local boy and sent him packing with a 2-0 victory.
This win ensured his presence in the pre quarter-finals where another native shuttler Lin Yu Hsien was waiting for him.
Wei Feng cleared this hurdle with 2-1 margin and setup a quarter-final clash with compatriot player Arif Abdul Latif. He did not stop at this and registered another straight-set victory to gain access to the second last round of the event.
However, World Number 13 Tien Minh Nguyen put his expedition to halt in the semi-final round and the young Malaysian had to bid farewell.
Though, his recent performances have grabbed attention but he needs to develop a winning habit to secure a respectable position at international level.
Lots of badminton critics believe that Wei Feng should work on his physical and mental strength as he always collapses in hard fought matches and this can jeopardise his prospects in future events.
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