NATIONAL player Lee Chong Wei faces a daunting task to qualify for the Athens Olympics after his passage in the Asian Badminton Championships was made tougher due to a re-draw in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC) were forced to conduct a re-draw of the four-star tournament, which begins on Tuesday, following the withdrawal of world champion Xia Xuanze of China and Chong Wei, who is now seeded joint third, faces a tough third round encounter against Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. Chong Wei, ranked World No 12, needs to reach at least the quarter-finals in the Asian championships but with Taufik in the way, it will not be an easy task. In the initial draw, where Xuanze was seeded second, Chong Wei had a clear passage into the quarter-finals where he was supposed to meet Chen Yu of China. Chong Wei, with his Olympic berth on the line, vowed to go all out to beat Taufik. "This is unfortunate but I am not going to give up," said Chong Wei. "I have a tough match in the first round against Johan Hadi Kusuma (of Hong Kong) but the match against Taufik will be a matter of life and death. "I have not played him before and tips from coach Misbun (Sidek) will be very helpful. I hope that home ground advantage will spur me to make it to the Olympics." The top 16 players at the end of the Olympic qualifying period on April 30 will gain automatic berths. Wong Choong Hann, ranked third, and Roslin Hashim, ranked 11th, have virtually confirmed their places. However, Chong Wei is likely to be overtaken by Sony Dwi Kuncoro, ranked 13th, Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark, ranked 14th, Ng Wei of Hong Kong, ranked 15th, and Anders Boesen of Denmark, ranked 16th, and Park Tae Sang of South Korea, ranked 17th, if the Malaysian loses to Taufik. The European shuttlers will have an easier task of gaining ranking points in their regional championships, which will be held simultaneously with the Asian championships. If Chong Wei advances to the last eight, he is expected to meet Roslin. In the men's doubles, Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng are likely to make the last eight where they are expected to meet Lee Dong Soo-Yoo Yong Sung of South Korea instead of Chinese pair Sang Yang-Zheng Bo, who also withdrew yesterday. Chong Ming-Choon Eng need to reach the semi-finals to confirm their place in the Olympics but Dong Soo-Yong Sung could put an end to their dreams. NST
