KUALA LUMPUR: World No 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei has been forced to pull out of the French Open on Wednesday after failing to recover from a hamstring muscle injury.
The 34-year-old Malaysian shuttler was initially scheduled to play Taiwan’s Hsu Jen Hao in the first round of the men’s singles event.
Chong Wei, who won the title last year, picked up the injury at the Denmark Open last week.
The three-time Olympic silver medallist crashed out in the quarter-finals after going down to France’s Brice Leverdez.
National singles coach Hendrawan, was not particularly alarmed, and believed it was the right decision as Chong Wei still has three more tournaments (China Open, Hong Kong Open and World Super Series Final in Dubai) this year.
“We had already discussed about this on Tuesday but decided to wait and see how Chong Wei was coping today. He was already having difficulties moving due to the injury and so we decided to pull him out.
“There is no point in pushing him to play as that could make things worst. He still has three more tournaments to go, it’s best he focuses on them,” said Hendrawan.
Since returning from the Rio Olympic Games, Chong Wei has won the Japan Open in September.
There is, however some good news for Malaysia as mixed doubles duo Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing will feature in the second round on Thursday.
The Thailand Open champions, defeated England’s Ben Lane-Jessica Pugh 21-9, 21-16 in the first round on Tuesday and are up against All England champions Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto of Indonesia next for a place in the quarter-finals.