Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s World No. 1 men’s singles player Lee Chong Wei faces a potentially tricky route to the Olympic final after being drawn in the same half as the two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan.
Although Lin Dan has been inconsistent in his recent performances, but the Chinese badminton star has proven many times that he could finish well at big tournaments such as the Olympics.
When asked on Wednesday about his potential semi-final clash with Lin Dan in the Olympics, Lee Chong Wei remained calm, cool and collected.
“I am not thinking about the semi-final yet. I’ll take it one match at a time,” said Lee.
“This is the Olympics, everyone will play their best to win. If I meet Lin Dan in the semis, I will face him and play my best against him,” added Lee.
“I must strengthen my mental and physical toughness, and I am not underestimating anyone.”
“This is my last shot at the Olympics, I’ll play to the best of my ability, and I hope I can do well. If I lose after playing my best, I have no regrets, because I’ve done everything I could.”
Malaysia’s women’s doubles pair admits relief after being drawn into Group C with No. 3 seeds Nitya Krishinda Maheswari-Greysia Polii of Indonesia, and two unseeded pairs including Heather Olver-Lauren Smith of England and Poon Lok Yan-Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong. If the Malaysian pair could live up to the expectation, they should be able to advance to the quarter-finals.
On the other hand, Malaysia’s men’s doubles, Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong got a tough draw as they were grouped together with hang Nan-Fu Haifeng of China, Philip Chew/Jamie Subandhi of the United States, Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy of India and Michael Fuchs/Johannes Schoettler of Germany in Group B.
The World No. 10 mixed doubles pair of Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying were drawn in Group C of the mixed doubles, the only tough opponent within the group would be No. 3 seeds Tontowi Ahmad/Liliana Natsir of Indonesia. Chan/Goh should be able to battle past Bodin Issara/Pakkawatvilailak of Thailand and Robin Middleton/Leanne Choo from Australia to become one of the two pairs to advance to the knockout stage.
