Chong Wei win his first-ever international title

BY LOGANATH VELLOO

KUANTAN: It was a glorious day for Malaysia with Lee Chong Wei and Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah emerging as the champions in the Malaysian Open Badminton Championships at the Sukpa Hall here yesterday. 

Chong Wei defeated South Korean Park Sung-hwan 15-3, 15-12 for his first-ever international title while Tan Fook-Wan Wah ended a five-year drought of Open titles with a convincing 15-12, 15-7 victory over Indonesian number one Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto. 

It was the first double victory for Malaysia in their home Open in eight years since the accomplishments of Ong Ewe Hock and Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur in 1996. 

Victory was especially sweet for Chong Wei, who had lost to China’s Chen Hong in the final in Kota Kinabalu last year. 

MAIDEN WIN:Lee Chong Wei poses with a mock cheque after winning the men's singles title in the Malaysian Open Badminton Championships in Kuantan Sunday.

However, there was no stopping the 22-year-old from Bukit Mertajam from becoming the 10th Malaysian to win their home Open men’s singles title since the tournament’s inception in 1937.  

His 20-year-old opponent was overawed by the occasion in his first senior international final appearance. And Chong Wei capitalised on it to win the first game easily. 

The Korean also found difficulty adapting to the draught, which carried his lobs long. Chong Wei, who is ranked 15th in the world, also faced similar problems in the second game and found himself trailing 6-11.  

The turning point for Chong Wei came after coach Misbun Sidek indicated to him to play his shots shorter and wait for his opponent to make the mistakes. 

The tactic worked well and Chong Wei clawed back to 9-12 and reeled off six points with just one service change to wrap up the match. 

Sung-hwan sliced Chong Wei’s low service into the net to hand the Malaysian the title and the US$9,600 (RM36,480) prize money that comes with it. Sung-hwan received US$4,800 (US$18,240). 

“I am very happy to have won my first Open title. I was in my best physical condition for this tournament as I pushed myself to the limit for the past one month,” said Chong Wei. 

“Three days before my first-round match, my body felt exhausted but my coach (Misbun) told me not to worry as I am fitter now and will recover in time. Being fitter made all the difference and I was able to regain my energy faster after every round. 

En route to the final, Chong Wei defeated three top 10 players in the world – Chen Hong (No. 2) and another Chinese, Bao Chunlai (No. 4) and Dane Peter Gade Christensen (No. 6). 

His feat was more remarkable for the fact that almost all the top players in the world who are heading for the Olympics in Athens next month competed in the tournament here. 

Said Misbun: “After all the hard work that he had put in training, Chong Wei truly deserved to win the title. 

“In the past, he always crashed out in the second or third round because of his lack of fitness. He has worked hard on his physical conditioning and also took better nutrition. The reward for his disciplined training is the Malaysian Open title. 

“He may not be rated the favourite to win in Athens next month but he will certainly enter the Olympics as the dark horse.”