Saturday January 20, 2007 Three-time champion Chong Wei falls to China's Chunlai MALAYSIAN OPEN SUPER SERIES NATIONAL number one men’s singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei’s three-year reign as Malaysian Open champion ended yesterday when he failed miserably in his quest for revenge over China’s Bao Chunlai. The 25-year-old Chong Wei went down 14-21, 18-21 to the World Championships runner-up Chunlai after dishing out an inspiring performances in 40 minutes. Chunlai had beaten Chong Wei in the quarter-finals of the world meet in Madrid in a highly charged game. The expectations and pressure on the small-framed Chong Wei were sky high and he just could not handle it. But he took the defeat well. “At least people will not call me Jaguh Kampung anymore. I put too much pressure on myself. I am glad that all is over now,” said Chong Wei. It all went wrong for Chong Wei from the start against the very fired-up Chunlai. “Everything was not right for me. The shuttle got tangled in the net and my returns were weak. It was a poor quality game from me. I just lost my confidence,” he said. “But I did not give up at any stage of the game. I tried to physche myself up and fought back. But Bao was just too good today” World number two Chong Wei said that he would now look beyond the Malaysian Open. “It was not easy to win the title for three consecutive years. Now, I look forward to the other tournaments. “I will take part in the Korean Open but for now, I do not want to set any targets,” he said. Coach Li Mao welcomed the defeat. “He may have lost this one but the target is the other one at home (the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur in August),” said Li Mao. Chunlai was surprised with Chong Wei’s lack of fire. “I came with high hopes of beating him. I read his game and was really prepared to face him. But he did not play his best,” he said. Chunlai will take on fellow Chinese Chen Hong in the semi-finals. The other semi-finals will be an all-Danish affair with Kenneth Jonassen taking on Peter Gade-Christensen.
Well, at least he took the defeat well. The unbeaten home record was such a burden for him carry this years (similar to LD's world no1 burden) and its finally off his shoulders.
nah, i believe it's because the competition is getting tougher. Hey, even TH and LD went down early. So now, all 3 best potential MO winners are out.
well, everyone was expecting him to win, so he had really a lot of pressure to face. it gets harder when you are expected to win.
i think its his fans lol, might be too distracting yelling his name out over and over in any circumstances during the game 2, 13-10, i remember him signally the fans to be quiet before bao chunlai served
I don't deny that there are better players than LCW, but to say LCW is not good enough ?? He has been quite consistent although not always at his peak. He lost the last few tournaments against LD, TH or BCL who else have beaten him consistently ?? The thing i can't understand is why is he competing in Korea Open, I thought he was carrying an injury ?
They say form is temporary, class is permanent. I think LCW is an incredibly talented player, there is no way he could become world number 1 (not currently, but he has held this title) if he wasn't. I think he is just having a poor run of form, and lacks a bit of confidence, but both will return in time. He was also unlucky to come up against BCL who is really on fire at the moment and playing some of his best badminton! Once he finds a bit of form I'm sure LCW will return stronger than ever.
I wasnt there tat day but i was quiet suprised by his defeat...mayb tats pressure whc cause it...cos the men single burden is solely on his shoulders now..wong choong han wil retire in a few years time while others are inconsistent..poor chong wei...
Well, I think we should not use "burden" or "pressure" as excuse for LCW's defeats. Denmark has only one Peter Gade and he still manage to win many titles during these 10 years. LCW should learn from Peter Gade how to win the match with full of confidence and determination.
I'm suprised BCL has beaten LCW in his home soil, the last 3 years it's all LCW Bao's still Mr. Runners-Up though :crying: :crying:
I agree we should not use "burden" or "pressure". I also think we should not always look for an excuse or fault. Competition nowadays is tough. Even Gade has not won WC or Olympics (not sure about All-England).
