Roslin opts out of Taiwan Open despite being the top seed

BY RAJES PAUL

KELANA JAYA: Despite not playing in any tournaments since the Athens Olympic Games, singles shuttler Mohd Roslin Hashim is the top seed ahead of Lee Chong Wei and Wong Choong Hann in the US$50,000 Taiwan Open starting on Wednesday.  

But yesterday, the 29-year-old Roslin announced that he had pulled out from the two-star tournament. 

It is the fourth tournament that Roslin has shied away since his second round defeat to Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro at Athens. The others were at last week's Singapore Open and the two local tournaments in Malacca and Selangor. 

In fact, Roslin will also not compete in the Indonesian Open from Dec 14-19 in Jakarta. 

The Nusa Mahsuri shuttler denied that his absence from competitions was a sign of retirement from the sport. But he said that he would give himself one more year before making a decision on his flagging career. 

“I was surprised when I was given the top billing in the Taiwan Open. It truly does not reflect my current form now. Despite not playing in any tournaments since Athens, my world ranking has gone up compared to the other Malaysian players. Probably, I should skip more tournaments,” he quipped. 

In the ranking used to determine the seeding for the Taiwan Open, Roslin was ranked at 15th. He was followed by Chong Wei at 16th and Choong Hann at 25th. 

But after Chong Wei's excellent run in the Singapore Open last week where he finished as the runner-up to Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen, the Penangite is back at the 13th spot in the world standings.  

Roslin is lying at 17th, followed by Choong Hann at 20th. 

“I did not take part in the Malacca and Selangor Opens because of a toe injury. During the fasting month, I did not train. As a result, my condition is not good and I did not compete in the Singapore Open. I am still struggling in training and it is best that I give Taiwan Open a skip too,” said Roslin. 

“I would rather stay at home and fine-tune my game,” he said. 

Roslin however, said he would give up the sport if he cannot lift up his game by the end of 2005. 

“My aim is to stay on at a competitive level until the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. But if I cannot keep pace with the others and continue to produce poor results in the next one year, it is best that I leave the sport and maybe venture into coaching,” he said. 

“My first tournament will be the Korean Open next year (Jan 25-30). It is important to get a good start for the year. I will get ready for that.” 

In the absence of Roslin, Malaysia will be represented by second seed Chong Wei, third seed Choong Hann, Kuan Beng Hong, Yeoh Kay Bin, Lee Tsuen Seng and Allan Tai in the men's singles.