Malaysia Gold

CHONG WEI STAMPS CLASS IN MALAYSIAN GOLD

Malaysian Lee Chong Wei continues to be the player to beat. In the wake of his four Super Series wins – Malaysian, Korean, All England and Indonesian - in 2010, the world top ranked player, stands quite alone at the top rung. Except for that unexpected ‘blip’ at the Singapore Open in mid-May, he has remained unbeaten.

At the Malaysian Open in the south Malaysian city of Johore Baru last Sunday, it was another formality to add a further title to his name. Though the Gold event did not attract the strongest players in world ranking, yet the presence of Taufik Hidayat and Boonsak Ponsana gave it some credibility.

In the final, Chong Wei faced his teammate Wong Choon Hann, who a day earlier had smothered the dream of Taufif Hidayat with an unexpected but exciting 21-13, 24-22 win. Against Choon Hann, the world no. 1 was at his brilliant best with devastating body and cross court smashes complemented with neat net-drops and deep lops that had his opponent all tied in knots, winning 21-8.

But surprisingly, Chong Wei failed to maintain the same momentum in the second and let his advantage slip and was forced into a ‘rubber.’ He was later to admit that it was ‘complacency’ that had seen him lose the second game. But as champions often do, the silver medalist of the Beijing Olympics came back strongly to take the rubber at 21-15.

From here, Chong Wei will make his way to the Macau Open, scheduled for later this month and then probably the Taipei tournament before flying off to Paris for the World Championships. The Malaysian has never been successful at the World Championships and hopes to put the record straight with a title-winning performance.

It has been close to two years since he attained BWF top ranking but somehow has played second fiddle to China’s Lin Dan when going for the major prizes – World Championships and the Olympics. In recent times, the Malaysian has expressed satisfaction at his rate of preparation for the World Championships and remains confident that he will achieve what no Malaysian has ever done before – win the World title.

Meanwhile at the Malaysian Open, Hong Kong’s top seed Zhou Mi was outpaced and outlasted by her teammate Yip Pui Yin in the ladies Singles. This is effectively the young girl’s first major title and now looks confident at a good showing at the Macau and Taipei tournaments before the August World Championships.

The pairings of Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan and Gunawan Aprida/Yulianto Chandra made it an All Indonesian final in the men Doubles with the former’s experience playing a crucial role in their three-game win over their teammates.

A second title went Indonesia’s way when Fitriawan Lahardi/Liliyana Natsir (INA), a scratch paring beat Thailand’s experienced Sudket/Saralee in three closes games 13-21, 21-16, 21-17.

But Thailand did take home a title, the Ladies Doubles when Duanganong & Kunchala beat the young Malaysian sisters Ng Hui Ern/Ng Hui Lin, 12-21, 21-17, 21-13 in the final.

THE RESULTS – MALAYSIAN OPEN  2010

MEN SINGLES

Lee Chong Wei (MAS)           beat                 21-8, 14-21, 21-15

Wong Choon Hann  (MAS)

LADIES SINGLES

Yip Pui Yin (HK)                      beat                 21-16, 14-21, 21-19

Zhou Mi  (HK)                        

MEN DOUBLES

Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan (INA)  beat     8-21, 21-17, 21-12

Gunawan Aprida/Yulianto Chandra (INA)

LADIES DOUBLES

Duanganong/Kunchala (THA)            beat     12-21, 21-17, 21-13

Ng Hui Ern/Ng Hui Lin  (MAS)

MIXED DOUBLES

Fitriawan Lahardi/Liliyana Natsir (INA) beat   13-21, 21-16, 21-17

Sudket/Saralee (THA)