PETALING JAYA: After a long wait, national badminton legend Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei has finally fulfilled one of his personal ambitions by launching his own tournament, the Lee Chong Wei (LCW) Cup.
Unlike other invitational tournaments that feature world stars, Chong Wei has chosen to open participation exclusively to teenagers aged between 13 and 17.
Three categories will be contested, namely boys and girls Under-13, Under-15 and Under- 17, as well as mixed doubles, which will only feature the Under-17 category.
The tournament is expected to attract about 3,200 participants in the qualifying stage.
The top 32 will advance to the Grand Finals, where they will compete against 32 players or pairs selected by their respective states.
The total prize pool stands at RM100,000 and winners in each category will earn a trial with the national squad at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara.
“This is one of my efforts to give back to Malaysia after retiring because there are not many tournaments at the junior level.
“As chairman of BAM’s performance committee, I also want to help unearth more new talents.
“As for why we are not organising a senior level tournament, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) calendar is very packed. For example, most of them are currently competing in Germany.
“Next week is the All-England, followed by the Swiss Open and then the Orleans Masters. I do not see any top players having the time to take part,” said Chong Wei.
However, the dates for the tournament have yet to be finalised as Chong Wei still needs to hold detailed discussions with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to avoid clashing with other junior events.
In addition, the scoring format will depend on the outcome of the BWF annual general meeting in Horsens in April on whether to retain the existing 21x3 points system or adopt the new 15x3 format.
“For now we are using the 21-point system, but if after the BWF meeting they decide to use the new format, we will adjust our scoring system as well,” he added.
