He was mischievous, lively and always stood with a cheeky smile. His antics even got him thrown out of the training hall by his coach for not taking things seriously.
But that boy grew up to become a legend. His name? Lee Chong Wei.
“He was the livewire of the team even from his junior days,” said StarSports senior editor Rajes Paul.
“As soon as I walked into the training hall, he would shout, ‘Kakak Rajes Paulllll!’”.
“We used to watch him tease Wong Mew Choo and pull pranks on his teammates.
‘‘He always had stories to tell, and had everyone in stitches.
“I remember Chong Wei sending me a photo of Mew Choo with their first child (Kingston, 2013) from the hospital. He was such a proud dad, and we carried the picture on our front page. We were the first to carry the photo. I later gave him a copy,” said Rajes.
Chong Wei was only 17 when he arrived at the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) training centre in Kampung Pandan in 2000.
“Once, he went a little too far and coach Misbun Sidek threw him out of the hall. But Chong Wei always came back. He asked for another chance, and from then on, there was no turning back.”
After years of tireless service, Chong Wei retired from the sport seven years ago. Today, as a Datuk Seri, his achievements and contributions to Malaysian badminton continue to be celebrated.The former world No. 1 is the only Malaysian to have won three Olympic silver medals.
After his third silver which he won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, The Star ran a Page 1 headline that read: “Three silvers, but you are pure gold.’’
That page is among his fondest memories involving The Star.
Another were seeing himself featured on the newspaper’s front page after the Olympic Games in London in 2012, where he also won silver.
The two editions remain particularly memorable for Chong Wei. In London, he narrowly missed out after losing to Lin Dan in the final.
Four years later in Rio, he finally defeated his long-time rival in the semi finals before settling for silver again after losing to Chen Long.
“I will never forget those two Olympics because I was featured on the front page, and the reporters even gave me copies of those photographs.
‘‘The one I remember most is Rio 2016,” he said, acknowledging the role The Star played in his journey from his early days in the sport until now.
However, he said he did not like to read the newspapers too much.
“Maybe if I read too much, I would feel more pressure,” said Chong Wei.
