Celebrations will take a back seat for National badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei who rose from the ashes of ‘shame’ to regain the world number one spot last week.
Chong Wei who regained the world number one spot last week enroute to winning the Indonesian Open Premier Super Series title for the sixth time, demoted China’s Chen Long to second spot when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) released its world ranking list today.
Chong Wei who went through a tumultuous period when the BWF handed him an eight-month suspension after failing a dope test in 2014, thus losing his world number one spot, managed to climb from world number 180 to the top after accumulating 94,453 points to pip Chen Long and Lin Dan who have 88,944 and 75,388 points respectively.
“To be honest, I had never imagined I will regain the world number one spot after the doping issue. My target was top four, nothing more. However, being the number one will further inspire me to keep going,” said the 33-year old when contacted by Bernama, Thursday.
Chong Wei is currently in Australia to undergo routine physiotherapy with the National badminton squad that is competing in the BWF Australia Open Super Series as part of his preparations for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil come August.
“Apart from undergoing physiotherapy in Australia, I also want to take a break from training,” he said.
Chong Wei returned to action on May 1, last year after serving an eight-month ban for testing positive (dexamethasone) at the World Championships in (Copenhagen, Denmark) in August 2014.
The double Olympic silver medallist and twice world championship runner-up featured in the Sudirman Cup from May 10-17 upon his return but his resurgence started when he won back-to-back titles – U.S Open on June 12 and Canada Grand Prix on June 28 – to move up the leaderboard.
The Penangite who bounced back quickly to earn a spot in the World Championships however, lost to Chen Long in the final of the World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.
But when hopes were raised that Chong Wei was back to his old form, an unexpected slump in form saw him losing in the opening rounds of the Japan Open, Korea Open and Denmark Open.
Critics had resigned to the fact that the 33-year-old was over the hill and with that would be buried Malaysia’s hopes of winning a first ever gold medal in the Olympics.
However, Chong Wei who is known for his commitment, determination and never-say-die attributes, bounced back to win the French Open Super Series on Oct 25, China Open on Nov 15 and Hong Kong Open on Nov 22, to announce his return loud and clear by moving up to world number five by December last year.
Chong Wei’s resurgence continued this year when he won the Malaysian Masters, Malaysian Open Premier Super Series, Asian Championships and Indonesia Open Premier Super Series.
“My confidence was back after beating Lin Dan and Cheng Long in their own backyard during the China Open and again at the Asian Championships. I was able to review my strength,” he said.
Chong Wei said he does not want to rest on his laurels or be on cloud nine after regaining the world number one spot but continue to focus on the Olympics.
“Before the ban I had been the world number one for 199 weeks. After the doping issue I knew I had to work hard knowing it would not be an easy task but I am glad that I managed to do it, what more at this age.
“I want to use the remaining two plus months to focus and train for the Olympics. I have to be physically and mentally fit because this will be my final Olympics,” he said.
Chong Wei said though he had competed in three previous Olympics, he had never been a part of the opening ceremony because badminton would normally start days after the opening ceremony but added this year’s Olympics would be a significant one since he would be the flag bearer for the Malaysian contingent.
“This is my last time in the Olympics, so I must go (to the opening ceremony). It will be a loss if I miss the opportunity,” said Chong Wei.
Chong Wei won a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and again at the 2012 London Olympics, both times losing to Lin Dan.
BERNAMA
