Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s national men’s singles coach Hendrawan has urged Lim Chong King to put his head down and keep working hard following his 8-21, 21-13, 21-15 win in the 2019 Hellas Open final against compatriot Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin last Sunday.
Even though that was Lim’s maiden international title, but the Indonesian-born coach wanted Lim to improve on what he has achieved so far, and trying to get better.
“It’s just a beginning for Chong King, he doesn’t need to be too excited,” said the former World Champion.
He acknowledged that the 19-year-old still has a long way to go in his badminton career, and he needs to work harder in training.
“He has to keep working hard and improving the quality of his play,” added Hendrawan.
Perhaps, Hendrawan has a legitimate reason to worry about young players such as Lim Chong King as the 19-year-old player was stranded in the third round of Bulgaria Open qualifying stage one day after winning the Hellas Open when he lost to India’s Swarnaraj Bora 9-21, 21-18, 20-22 on Monday.
Meanwhile, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin who lost to Lim in last week’s Hellas Open final, pulled off an upset to stun No. 7 seed Adrian Dziolko of Indonesia 21-23, 21-9, 21-17 in the Bulgaria Open first round, setting up a second round encounter with Leon Seiwald of Austria.
In addition to Sadikin, last week’s Hellas Open women’s singles champion Kisona Selvaduray was also forced to dig deep to overcome Viktoriia Kozyreva 21-5, 16-21, 21-17 in the Bulgaria Open first round. She will face No. 6 seed Marie Batomene of France on Wednesday.
