WORLD No 1 Lee Chong Wei was on cloud nine after reaching the quarter-finals of the World Championships today.
The top seed showed that he was back in the groove when he showed class to crush former world junior Wang Zhengming of China 21-12, 21-7 in 37 minutes to keep intact his unbeaten run against the youngster.
It was Chong Wei’s ninth win against Zhengming but probably the most convincing one.
On Fiday, he will take on another Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto, the son of former great Icuk.
A day after struggling to beat Indonesia’s Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka, Chong Wei showed that he was back at his best and naturally, he was pleased as punch over his transformation within a day.
“I certainly played much better than my opening match in this tournament. My speed was much better. I made fewer errors and did well to control the wind in the stadium. I am pleased,” said Chong Wei.
“I came prepared to take on Zhengming. He had the home advantage but I was surprised with the manner I won against him. Maybe, he got a bit uptight today.”
On his next opponent, Chong Wei vowed to keep the youngster at bay. He has beaten Tommy six times - with his last win at the last year’s Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold.
“I have not played against him for some time but I believe, he has shown improvement in his game. I will continue with my new found momentum here,” he added.
Chong Wei will have to be cautious as he has lost to Indonesian players three times in the World Championships series. Sony Dwi Kuncoro crushed his dream at the 2007 and 2009 series while Taufik Hidayat had beaten him once at the 2005 edition and just a day ago, Hayom came very close of doing the same.
Yesterday, though Chong Wei said that he had found another motivation to go all the way in the world meet.
“I will go all out to win here for my coach Rashid Sidek. He has forgone the Hari Raya celebration to be here with the team and I appreciate his sacrifice,” added Chong Wei, who also wished all the Malaysians Selamat Hari Raya.
Meanwhile, Chong Wei was the only Malaysian men singles shuttler left to carry the torch for the nation when Liew Daren went down 18-21, 15-21 to second seed Chen Long of China.
Chen Long will take on four-time world champion Lin Dan in the quarter-finals and it is set to be an epic match.
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