TheStar Sept 20 '05 PETALING JAYA: In the absence of Mohd Hafiz Hashim in the Indonesian Open, former national number one Wong Choong Hann has a chance to prove that he can be relied on to play in the men’s singles badminton individual event at the Manila SEA Games (Nov 27-Dec 5). The 28-year-old Choong Hann is the sixth seed in the Indonesian Open, which begins tomorrow in Jakarta. He is expected to meet either 2003 Vietnam SEA Games gold medallist and reigning Asian champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, who has been seeded 14th, or fourth seed Ng Wei of Hong Kong in the third round. Malaysia have named Lee Chong Wei and Hafiz for the individual event in the SEA Games. But with Hafiz’s condition still not up to the mark, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) can still make changes before the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) finalise the squad at the end of the month. The 22-year-old Hafiz, whose performances in several international tournaments this year has been bugged by a knee injury, withdrew from the Indonesian Open after coming down with fever last week. National chief coach Yap Kim Hock wants to keep his options open on the squad for the Manila Games. “We have named four singles players – Chong Wei, Hafiz, Choong Hann and Kuan Beng Hong – for the team event. But a country can only have two entries for an individual event. We will look at the current performances of the players and make changes where necessary,” said Kim Hock. At the Vietnam Games, Choong Hann was the favourite to win the gold but he was beaten by Sony in the final. The record between the two players now stands at three wins each. If Choong Hann can come out of a slump and score an upset win over Sony in the Indonesian Open, it will certainly brighten up his chance to be considered for the individual event in the Manila Games. His best achievement thus far this year was a semi-final appearance in the All-England. Besides Choong Hann, Chong Wei and Beng Hong, the other Malaysian singles players for the Indonesian Open are Mohd Roslin Hashim, James Chua, Yeoh Kay Bin, Lee Tsuen Seng, K. Yogendran and Pei Wee Chung.
