Chong Wei Lee gave his Malaysia a terrible fright on Monday. The world’s second-ranked badminton player behind Scott Evan’s conqueror Lin Dan dropped a game against Finnish player Ville Lang in his first-round match.
After taking the opening game with a 21-8 hurry-through, he lost the second 14-21 and stood at a nervy 11-10 at the interval in the decider. He pulled away in the end to win the final game 21-11 but it was a far closer affair than anyone had expected.
Afterwards, he conceded the near-disaster had come about through nothing more sinister than a bout of nerves. “I am under pressure and that is not something that I can control. It was a poor performance and I admit that I could not play my normal game at all.”
Lee is one of the most famous men in Malaysia and their main hope for a medal at the games. Upon winning a silver medal in Beijing, he was made a Datuk by the governor of Penang – roughly the Malaysian equivalent of an OBE. He also got a reward of 300,000 Ringgit (€77,500) and a monthly pension of 3,000 Ringgit for life. His duels with Lin Dan have captivated the badminton world over the past decade and they are seeded one and two here.
The last 16 round begins this morning at Wembley Arena.
Malachy Clerkin
