Going the Chong Wei's way

2010/02/10

By K.M. Boopathy
boopathy@nst.com.my

HERE is a piece of advice for the struggling national back-up players from Lee Chong Wei who once had a similar experience before he became World No 1.

Set minor goals but with a big determination to succeed.

Chong Wei, whose first national level success was winning the Under-18 junior crown at age 17, lost to then National No 1 Wong Choong Hann in the first round of the 2000 Malaysia Open.

Chong Wei said he did not lose heart after that defeat and his first target was to beat national back-up players.

And eventually he had the better of Choong Hann in their second meeting -- the 2003 National Grand Prix Finals, and Chong Wei went on to win his first local title.

The rest, as they say, is history. Chong Wei went on to win the national title eight times and the silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Chong Wei Feng has age on his side.

Though current back-up players Kuan Beng Hong, Chan Kwong Beng, Tan Chun Seang and Chong Wei Feng work hard, they lack the hunger and ambition.

"As a player, I have always set targets. Those were small targets but I often achieved them and kept setting new ones. And with hunger, I managed to come this far," said Chong Wei.

"Our back-up players have the hunger but it is still not enough to be top class. They must set themselves targets and work hard to achieve them. If they are afraid of targets, it is not going to help them progress.

"If I had given up after my early defeats to Choong Hann or Hafiz (Hashim), I wouldn't have made it. There were so many back-up players more senior to me but I kept improving in every tournament and finally started beating them regularly.

"The current players must be brave and have goals. We are looking for these qualities as we try to assemble a strong Thomas Cup team and also get quality players for the future."

Beng Hong, who lost to Chong Wei in the semi-finals of last week's National GP finals, is one of the players with some credentials but he must work hard to produce good results consistently on the international stage.

Chun Seang and Wei Feng have shown improvement but still lack consistency. Beng Hong at age 27, may be past his prime in winning international honours.

Beng Hong (22), Wei Feng (23) and Chun Seang (23) must start thinking big as they have age on their side and should learn to go the way of Chong Wei.

Tan Chun Seang must start thinking big.