Sunday, 16 August 2009
WORLD number one Lee Chong Wei’s body was cold when his coach Misbun Sidek hugged him after his shocking men’s singles quarter-final exit in the World Championships at Hyderabad on Friday.
And that was the reason for his 16-21, 21-14, 12-21 loss to Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro – Malaysia’s blue-eyed boy of badminton froze at the wrong time.
Down and out: Lee Chong Wei tumbles while trying to retrieve a shot by Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the men’s singles quarter-finals on Friday. Sony won 21-16, 14-21, 21-12. — AP
But Misbun, disappointed that he has failed yet again to produce a world champion for the country, is confident that Chong Wei will bounce back.
“He was quite nervous even before going into the court. The only fear of every top class player is to calm the raging battle within themself and Chong Wei failed to do that,” said Misbun.
“After the one-hour battle with Sony, I felt his hands and body. They were cold. He was unable to produce his best form.”
Misbun said that Chong Wei burst into tears in the room and kept to himself and even turned down food after the defeat.
The loss was unexpected as Chong Wei had the best of preparation, including a 10-day stint in South Korea, while Sony had to juggle between training and his wedding preparation for the whole of last month. In fact, Sony had trained without a coach for a month.
“Chong Wei wanted to win so badly especially after the two Malaysian men’s doubles pairs had reached the semi-finals before his match. And that added pressure on him to perform,” said Misbun.
“Sony is a tricky player. He waited patiently for Chong Wei to make mistakes.
“And it worked as Chong Wei was totally blanked out and did not know how to get back to his normal game.”
The outcome of the World Championships showed that Chong Wei is still struggling to stabilise his game as the world number one player. And that to Misbun is understandable.
“There is no doubt that Chong Wei is a world class player but he is not as solid as we wanted him to be at the top.
“His techniques and skills are there but he has to make the right decision when he is on court and no one can help him on this except himself. And this is not easy for any player in the world.”
Even National Sports Institute (NSI) psychologist Frederick Tan, who is also in Hyderabad, had tried his best to keep Chong Wei’s motivation high from the start of the tournament but to no avail.
Misbun said he would give Chong Wei the long break he wanted but with a condition attached — the Beijing Olympic Games silver medallist must return to training at his usual best.
Courtesy of The Star
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