LEE Chong Wei, who has fully recovered from a right shoulder injury, is not expecting to clinch a double in the India Open (April 24-29) and Malaysia Open Grand Prix gold in Johor Baru (May 1-6). But he wants to use the tournaments to gauge his current condition against his rivals.
Chong Wei will get that opportunity in India as he may play Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the last eight, Sho Sasaki of Japan or Simon Santoso of Indonesia in the semi-finals and a possible meeting against Chen Jin of China or Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark in the final.
It will be easy in the Malaysia Open as Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam is the highest ranked player in the tournament but Chong Wei will have to tread with caution in both tournaments as he doesn't want to suffer a recurrence of the shoulder injury which would seriously affect his quest for Olympic glory in London in July.
"I have returned to full training and the shoulder is fine. However, the India and Malaysia Opens will be my first two tournaments and all I want to do is to gauge my level against other rivals and not think too much about the title," said Chong Wei.
"I would try to at least reach the semi-finals in India but I am not going to put any pressure on myself. The Thomas Cup Finals will be held in less than six weeks while the Olympics is my ultimate aim.
"Every preparation is geared towards London and I have been making sure everything falls into place to hit the right track in the Olympics."
Chong Wei has even received tailor-made shoes from his sponsor Yonex where the F1MX model is said to be the lightest ever produced for badminton and he will also be using the gold and purple framed racquets during the Olympics to boost his confidence.
Men's doubles Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong received similar tailormade shoes and racquets but they may need more than their apparels to inspire them in London if their current form is anything to go by. By K.M. Boopathy
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