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It was good, but not enough.  That is the message from Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Shabery Cheek in regards to Lee Chong Wei performance in 2011. Lee Chong Wei reached 11 finals, three semi-finals and won seven titles which is an impressive achievement. But the two back-to-back defeats to Chen Long is unacceptable and the recent Super Series China Open semi-final loss was grains in the salt.

Datuk Cheek added "Current coaches Tey Seu Bock, Rashid Sidek and Hendrawan may be good coaches but they lack the much needed experience in analyzing the weak areas and giving spot-on advice to Chong Wei.  Misbun’s presence would give Chong Wei an air of confidence and psychological edge over his opponents like Lin Dan or Chen Long, which could determine between winning or losing at the 2012 London Olympics".

"The BAM coaching committee cannot gamble on the current coaches.  Chong Wei has lost to his arch-rival Lin Dan four out of the five times they played. He has eight months to plan his schedule for training, rest and competition in his quest for the 2012 Olympic gold medal.  Now it is learned that he is keen to get the services of his mental trainer Fred Tan which is vital for his preparation on top of his very demanding training.  As a fan, I appeal to BAM to put aside their differences with Misbun for the good of the nation to win the ultimate singles gold medal, provided Chong Wei stays free of injury during these crucial eight months".

"This is not about anyone's personal pride. Misbun may feel apprehensive about coming back and BAM may feel that such a move would be swallowing their pride but what is important is the country's badminton," he told Bernama

However, a local daily reported that Misbun seemed non-committal to such a move, adding that the former coach had said that BAM had enough experts to determine Chong Wei's success towards winning an Olympic gold medal.

So if Chong Wei fails to deliver gold to Malaysia, will BAM be ready to take the blame?

No one wants to be blamed for failure.  That is no exception to Malaysia National coach Tey Seu Bock.  He is rather mellow than aggressive when others are judging his works.  Under his supervision, there are Rashid Sidek and Hendrawan but they are still clueless on how to overcome Chen Long and Lin Dan specially from Lee Chong Wei worst nightmare.  Therefore, Tey Seu Bock will be cooperative, if he will be working "with" Misbun Sidek to obtain gold medal in Summer Olympics. 

Tey said the mission to win Malaysia's first gold medal at the London Olympic Games, which rests on the shoulder of the world number one singles, should be given priority without any hindrance to Chong Wei's preparation.

He said he has no problem working with Misbun even though the decision to get the service of Chong Wei's former coach would depend on the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).

"I am not particular about working with anybody including Misbun, as I have also cooperated with him before.

"But at the moment, Rashid and Hendrawan are assisting me in game analyses, tactical and so on. For me I have no problem, it is up to BAM," he told the media after a training session at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara, here Friday.

Tey said he has his own plans to raise the performance of the current All-England champion in view of the Olympics next year and was targeting to peak Chong Wei in three months.

"However, at the moment the training has not been stepped up as Chong Wei was busy with several meets since the Malaysia Open," he said.

Meanwhile, BAM general manager Kenny Goh said Chong Wei had not voiced his intention to the organization to recall Misbun.

"I think to be fair to Chong Wei, we also heard this statement only through the mass media, we have not heard it from Chong Wei personally.

"But I was made to understand that actually Chong Wei meant that he seeks tips and advice from Misbun on a personal basis," he said, adding that BAM has no plan to increase the number of coaches at the moment.

In other words, if Misbun is in, someone will have to go...

Losing back to back to China is causing panic already to BAM?  It is probably "YES".

The Chief of BAM, Kenny Goh, is waiting for Lee Chong Wei's opinion, if he prefers to be trained again by his mentor, Misbun Sidek.  At this moment, Morten Frost Hansen is set as an alternative, assuming Misbun Sidek declines the offers.  Misbun Sidek had worked for eight years under BAM.  He resigned last year on December 31 due to personal reason.  Currently, Lee Chong Wei is under coach Tey Siu Bock assisted by Rashid Sidek and Hendrawan.

According to Goh, BAM is always looking for better alternatives to help players.  However, BAM will not make abrasive decision.  "We have to listen directly from Datuk Chong Wei, if he prefers to be trained by Misbun for his preparation to this coming Summer Olympics.  As of now, we have not meet with Datuk Chong Wei, therefore we cannot confirm the plans."

While the choice is on his hand, Chong Wei still could not give details of his decision.  "Even if I wanted, I cannot make a decision because I am under BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia). BAM has a manager, an officer, who makes the decisions. I just follow."

Chong Wei also said that one of his most disappointing moments of his illustrious career was losing the World Championship title in London last August.

"The World Championships loss was the most painful and it still hurts. I still feel 'down' until now. But with the new year coming, I want to forget everything and start afresh," said Chong Wei who will be competing in the Korean Open early next year and the Malaysian Open from Jan 10-15.

Chong Wei is a defending champion of Malaysia Open.  If he failed to secure his championship, BAM may have to take whatever it takes to save this player.

It started in Hong Kong then followed in China Opens, Datuk Lee Chong Wei was not the usual champion of badminton world anymore. He missed back to back finals of the prestige events and worst was the lost to Chen Long in the Super Series semi finals last week.

BAM scrambled to find the answers and rumors flew around if Datuk Lee Chong Wei would get a third coach to enhance Datuk's psychology barriers.  The strong contender for this coaching position is Morten Frost Hansen.

Morten had coached in Malaysia.  He knows the system and probably he will blend well with the staffs and BAM's culture.  Unfortunately, if the tasks of Morten is only on the psychology aspects of Chong Wei's games, it may not show any impacts.  The reason is Morten is not a doctor or a person with such deep knowledge of human mentality.  He is merely a retired badminton player with previously championship titles in the old era. The game in that time is different.  A player must have strong physical endurance which a simple match could last an hour or more.  Now, the game is different.  A simple serving mistake will cost a point.  When there are five points separation, the psychology impacts to the players is different, compare to old time because there is no assurance of stopping points accumulation to the opponents.  In addition,player is demanded to play with precision and tactical ability, instead of merely stamina and muscles.

The good news is the current threat of Chong Wei supremacy is only from two players - Lin Dan and Chen Long.  Also, whenever Chong Wei played these two players, they mostly have to play in 3 sets and especially with Chen Long, the winning points on the third set were not too far a part.  In other words, the chance is still 50-50.  The most concern is whenever Chong Wei plays to Lin Dan.

BAM honorary-secretary Ng Chin Chai said its coaches and the National Sports Institute were constantly playing "war games" in trying to get the upper-hand against the Chinese "soldiers".

"And just when Chong Wei improves on his shortcomings against the top Chinese players, they (Chinese) come out with new strategies to beat Chong Wei. It is a cat and mouse game," he told Bernama here Monday.

Well aware of the formidable challenges that lie ahead, Ng said BAM was formulating new strategies, as the ultimate objective of the "war" was for Chong Wei to bring back the men's singles gold from next year's London Olympics.

Malaysia are banking on him to win Malaysia's first ever gold medal in the Olympics.

"Though it will not be an easy task, we will not give up and do whatever it takes to help Chong Wei secure the Olympic gold," added Ng.

Assuming the result of this coming summer Olympics is worst than finals, who is to blame in BAM?

There was no surprise to poor performance of Koo Kien Kat and Tan Boon Heong in the 2011 Super Series Finals.  The hectic coaching rotation and little tension with their old coach brought some upsets and waves to their training calendar.  Yet, the expectation of this fifth world ranking pair was semi finals, which we all know it was not happening.

However, the expectation for Datuk Lee Chong Wei is not semi finals or even finalist.  He has to win and proofs himself to be the best in 2011.  Yet, his destiny is not within reach.  Chinese badminton hopeful, Chen Long, shockingly stopped  world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the semifinals of the BWF World Superseries Finals 21-16, 16-21, 21-18. 

The 22-year-old Chen Long is obviously in the form of his life at the moment.  He controlled the tempo of the match and almost made no mistakes on the court. His victory and his recent sound performance sent a message to the world that he has indeed broken the Lee Chong Wei-Lin Dan stranglehold and he should now be the player to watch.

Every successful man fails at some time, even "Grand Slam" winner Lin was stunned by an unheralded player in his opener at the Athens Olympic Games, Chen is definitely not excluded.

In his maiden worlds journey this August, he suffered an unbelievable loss in the first round to Kevin Cordon from the Central American republic of Guatemala.

However, failure tells you about your weaknesses, shortcomings and lack of preparations. "It's my first world championships. After this I have the chance to get more experience."

Just like what Chen said, the failure in the worlds is not an end, but a start.

After the worlds, Chen made a strong comeback, winning China Masters, Japan Open and Denmark Open in a row to join an elite bunch of shuttlers who win three consecutive BWF World Superseries crowns. The world No. 3 has also outshone four-time world champion Lin, who has only back-to-back Superseries titles.

A down-to-earth Chen kept clam after the win in Denmark. "This is just a normal tournament, I do my best in each match."

Chen did what he said afterwards by entering the semifinals of all the tournaments he participated, including the on-going Finals.

In the season-ending event which is open to the top eight shuttlers in the world, Chen joined the group A along with Lin, former Olympic champion Hidayat Taufik of Indonesia and Japan's Tago Kenichi.

Chen stretched Lin in the opening match to three sets before losing the close match 21-15, 19-21, 21-17, but he was too good to Taufik and Kenichi, winning the next two matches to enter the last four.

In Saturday's semifinals, Chen proved once again his capability by defeating Lee for the third time in 2011. Lee highly commended Chen's performance, saying Chen was the second biggest opponent of him besides Lin.

Talking about his tips in such a miraculous comeback, Chen said, "it's nothing special, I just try to be more active on the court and be more patient when lagging behind. I'm still young and my physical condition is good."

The dust is finally settled.  The China favorite double pair is out of this tournament after a shocking lost to South Korean pair Ko Sung-Hyun and Yeon-Seong in straight set 20-22 16-20.  Chinese hopes in the men's doubles now rest on Chai Biao and Guo Zhendong, who qualified second in Group A.

Datuk Lee Chong Wei came through a tight match 24-22, 21-14 against Danish veteran Peter Gade, while "Super Dan" made short work of Japan's Kenichi Tago 21-11, 21-13.  Crucially, both players topped their groups after the three round-robin games, meaning they will avoid each other in Saturday's semi-finals. World number one Lee, who has won all three editions of badminton's season finale, will face Chinese second seed Chen Long, while Lin is up against long-time foe Gade.

Second seeded in BWF ranking, Lin Dan, crushed Tago in just 42 minutes to stand just two matches from badminton's first "Super Grand Slam" by winning all nine of the sport's premier titles.

Yet, the unfortunate Indonesian Taufik Hidayat, the 2004 Olympic gold-medallist, crashed 21-13, 21-7 from China's Chen Long.  Hopefully, Taufik's slamming performance will not continue to the Olympics.

Women's top seed Wang Yihan of China knocked out Germany's Juliane Schenk in three games to finish top of Group A. She was joined in the semi-finals by Danish player Tine Baun, who beat South Korea's Sung Ji-Hyun.

China's Wang Xin topped Group B despite a surprise loss to India's Saina Nehwal, who shrugged off some indifferent form with a 21-17, 22-20 win to book her place in the last four.

Hot Chinese favorites Wang Xiaoli and Yang Yu looked odds-on for the women's doubles crown after they swept into the semi-finals with three wins at the top of Group A.

Due to disappointing results on the last two events and preparing for 2012 Summer Olympic, Datuk Lee Chong Wei will play less tournaments in 2012.

According to BAM, the World No 1 badminton player was absent from the Macau Open due to physical and mental exhaustion.

This is the golden opportunity for Chong Wei to get the first gold for Malaysia in Olympics.  If he is not in prime condition and cannot deliver gold to the country, it will be tougher to wait the next four years to come back and be competitive.

Deputy president Datuk Dr Mohamed Al-Amin Abdul Majid, who spoke at the launch of the Maybank Malaysian Open Preparation yesterday, also said BAM would prepare a programme to keep Chong Wei fresh for the London challenge.  "Chong Wei is not getting any younger and for a player at this stage of his career, he needs proper rest and recovery to keep on performing well," said Al-Amin.  "His coaches will have to look into changing his program to one that will keep him in top shape for the Olympics, which may mean playing less tournaments."  Al-Amin, however, left no doubt that Chong Wei would be defending his title at the US$400,000 (RM1,275,000) Malaysian Open on Jan 10-15 at the Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil.

The Malaysian has won the last four editions of the Malaysian Open, beating Indonesian Taufik Hidayat in the final last year. "As his home event, it is important for him to play here as well as to defend his ranking points. We will look at reducing his tournaments after the Malaysian Open.  Al-Amin also praised  Maybank for its involvement in badminton, and cited the support as an important factor in producing a new Chong Wei.  Maybank replaces Proton as the title sponsor of the Malaysian Open after penning a  RM41m sponsorship deal spanning six years with BAM in July.

After being absent from Sea Games 2011, Lee Chong Wei is looking to revenge his pride to Lin Dan in the semi final stage of Hong Kong Super Series 2011. Both super players won convincingly on their quarter final matches.  Malaysian top seed Lee Chong Wei rooted India's Ajay Jayaram 21-16, 21-13, while Chinese Olympic champion Lin Dan beat Shon Wan-Ho of South Korea 21-15, 21-18.

In August Lee, who is looking to claim a remarkable seventh Super Series title this year, let slip two match points as Lin crawled off the canvas to claim his fourth world title in London.  But Lee will be a favorite to claim the honours in Hong Kong following an indifferent recent run by Lin, who has again courted controversy by forfeiting matches against Chinese team-mates through injury or illness.

The winner will face a final against either second seed Chen Long, who defeated Indian qualifier R.M.V. Gurusaidutt 21-13, 23-21, or fellow Chinese Chen Jin, a 21-18, 21-13 victor over Denmark's Peter Gade.

Hong Kong fans will hope there is no repeat of 2007, when Chen Jin pulled out of his semi-final with Lin with a sudden back injury.

In the women's draw, Chinese top seed Wang Yihan reached Saturday's semis with a 22-20, 21-10 win over Japan's Ai Goto, and will face team-mate Wang Xin who downed Taiwan's Cheng Shao-Chieh 21-17, 22-20.

Danish seventh seed Tine Baun beat India's Saina Nehwal 21-16, 21-15 to set up a semi-final with Wang Shixian, the second seed from China.

In the men double, American hopeful Tony/ Bach could not match up to the first ranked China pair,  Fu Haifeng/ Cai Yun.  They lost 13-21 and 16-21 in 27 minutes.

In this event, none of Indonesia players passed the quarter final stage.  The last hope of Indonesia, Chandra/ Gunawan lost in 3 matches to Korean secondary pair, Ko/Yoo 9-21, 18-21 and 15-21.

Chong Wei lost to his nemesis, Lin Dan 20-22, 21-14, 23-21 in the final of the Four Heavenly Kings Showdown tournament in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan in Guangdong province on Friday.

The biggest names in world badminton – Chong Wei, Lin Dan, Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and Dane Peter Gade Christensen – were invited for the tournament held to commemorate the opening of the Li Yongbo Badminton Academy. Yongbo, China’s chief coach, is the adviser while badminton legend Tang Xianhu serves as the principal of the academy.

For his win, Lin Dan pocketed one million yuan (RM500,000) while Chong Wei received 400,000 yuan (RM200,000).

In the semi-finals, Lin Dan beat Taufik 21-13, 21-18 while Chong Wei scored an emphatic 21-11, 21-18 victory over Christensen. Taufik and Christensen got 200,000 yuan (RM100,000) each.

The next probable meeting between Chong Wei and Lin Dan could be the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open Super Series starting on Tuesday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Datuk Lee Chong Wei lived up to his top billing by winning his 10th consecutive National Grand Prix Finals title, after beating Goh Soon Huat 21-11, 21-5 in a lop-sided men's singles final at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara Saturday.

The world number one and the country's top player took less than 30 minutes to overcome Goh who had pulled off an upset to reach the final for the first time after beating Chong Wei Feng.

"I have achieved my target and I hope the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will understand if I skip this tournament next year," he told reporters after receiving a trophy and RM7,000 cash for his effort.

The Penang-born Chong Wei, a household name in world badminton, said he would now concentrate on his preparations for the Denmark Open which starts on Oct 23.

"In Denmark, I expect to meet Chen Jin of China in the quarterfinal and playing there is important because I am looking forward to earning points and qualify for the Olympics," said Chong Wei who celebrates his 29th birthday on Oct 21. In the women's singles, Lydia Cheah aslo lived up to expectations by beating Tee Jing Yi 21-14, 21-17 in straight sets while Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari/Ong Soon Hock beat Lutfi Zaim/Vountus Indra Mawan 19-21, 21-15, 21-19 in a thrilling three-set encounter.

The women's doubles title went to Vivian Hoo/Won Khe Wei who were also involved in an exciting three-set match against Chin Eei Hui/Goh Liu Ying before emerging with a 17-21, 21-15, 21-15 win.

The mixed doubles title went to Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying who beat Tan Wee Kiong/Woon Khe Wei 21-15, 21-14.

Results:

Men's Singles:

Datuk Lee Chong Wei bt Goh Soon Huat 21-11, 21-5

Women's Singles:

Lydia Cheah bt Tee Jing Yi 21-14, 21-17

Men's Doubles:

Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari/Ong Soon Hock bt Lutfi Zaim/Vountus Indra Mawan 19-21, 21-15, 21-19

Women's Doubles:

Vivian Hoo/Won Khe Wei bt Chin Eei Hui/Goh Liu Ying 17-21, 21-15, 21-15

Mixed Doubles:

Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying bt Tan Wee Kiong/Woon Khe Wei 21-15, 21-14.