KUALA LUMPUR: The Round-robin format adopted in the preliminary stages of the London Olympics would help Datuk Lee Chong Wei to gain some competitive matches before the main challenge says his coach Tey Seu Bock.
Seu Bock said since Chong Wei had missed the Indonesia Open Premier Super Series and the Singapore Open Super Series after suffering an ankle injury during the Thomas Cup Finals in Wuhan, China last month, he would need some competitive matches to regain his competitive edge.
“The Round-Robin format is good for professional players as their can use the matches to warm up for the title challenge. However, Chong Wei need to focus on every match,” he told reporters when met at the Juara Stadium here yesterday.
In London, the preliminary stages of the singles competition would be played on a Round-Robin format with players divided into 16 groups comprising four players per group and the winners of the 16 groups will advance to the knockout stage.
In the doubles competition, four pairs will make up each of the 16 groups and play in a Round-Robin format but two from each group will advance to the knockout stage.
Seu Bock said with only 32 days left for the London Olympics, Chong Wei’s main focus would be to prepare for the challenge physically and mentally.
“Chong Wei’s condition has improved and he feels good but we cannot push him hard right now. He is currently going through straight forward training. As a professional player who has not been bogged by injuries in the past it will be difficult to accept the reality of injury suddenly. It will take some time to overcome the trauma,” he said.
He added that Chong Wei’s drop in the world ranking from first to second would not affect his concentration because the prospect of losing the number one spot was always there since he had to miss a number of competitions due to his injury.
The latest ranking list released by the Badminton World Federation saw China’s Lin Dan regain top spot with 93,313.4114 points while Chong Wei dropped to second on 91,898.7300 points. — Bernama