Chong Wei Feng in action during the Axiata Cup third placing play off between Malaysia and Asia All Stars on Sunday. - Filepic
KUALA LUMPUR: National singles shuttler Chong Wei Feng’s wish to end the year on a good note has gone up in smoke.
An ankle injury has forced the men’s singles top seed to pull out of the Sabah Open badminton championships starting on Wednesday in Kota Kinabalu.
By missing the Sabah Open, and also the Perak Open in October, the 27-year-old Wei Feng will not be able to defend his national title at the National Grand Prix Finals in Terengganu from Dec 27-30.
Wei Feng said that he picked up the injury during the Axiata Cup. On Saturday, Malaysia failed to defend their Axiata Cup title after losing in the semi-finals.
“I picked up an ankle injury during the Axiata Cup. Unfortunately, there were no NSI (National Sports Institute) staff to help ... so, it got worse. The team did not even have a masseur during the team event and everyone was just so tired,” said Wei Feng.
“I went for an ultrasound scan today (yesterday) but the doctor did not know what was wrong. I’ll see another doctor for a second opinion.
“I’ve decided that it’s best to withdraw from the Sabah Open. Besides, the national team will break camp for a week after the Sabah Open.
“We are expected to come back and compete in the National GP Finals. What is the point of playing in a tournament if we are not fit?”
Wei Feng said that it was best that he focused on preparing for the next season, where he will open his campaign by playing in the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold in Kuching, Sarawak, from Jan 13-18.
“I need points to qualify for the 2016 (Rio) Olympic Games next year, which is more important to me. It is every player’s dream to play in the Olympics and I want to give my best to achieve that,” he said.
Wei Feng has dropped to 33rd in the world rankings, no thanks to the early round exits in most of the Superseries tournaments this year. The only meet he excelled in this year was in the Thomas Cup Finals in New Delhi in May, when the team reached the final.
Besides Wei Feng, four others – Liew Daren, Vincent Phua, K. Yogendran and Leonard C. Jomol – have also withdrawn from men’s singles.
In their absence, several back shuttlers – like Goh Soon Huat, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, Tan Kian Meng, Goh Giap Chin, Soong Joo Ven and Soo Tech Zhi – will be looking to win their first local Open title.
They, however, will have to keep their eyes on several former internationals – among them Misbun Ramdan Misbun, Tan Chun Seang and Mohd Arif Abdul Latif.
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