Kuala Lumpur: World No. 3 Lee Chong Wei remained undaunted despite an “up and down” season so far.
The return of his former coach, Misbun Sidek, as the men’s singles head coach to Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) on July 1st had given him extra boost of confidence.
“Misbun is like a father to me, I can’t wait to train under him, but first, I need to keep my focus on the Indonesia Open,” said Lee.
“I will be aiming for my seventh Indonesia Open title, but it’s not going to be easy, especially the Indonesia Open is one of the toughest places to play,” added Lee.
Lee Chong Wei who was seeded No. 1 at Indonesia Open, will take on home shuttler Tommy Sugiarto in the opener and is expected to renew his rivalry with Chen Long – the Chinese player who denied him the gold medal at the Rio Olympics in the quarter-finals. If Lee could reach the final, he is very likely to clash with his old foe Lin Dan for the men’s singles title.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), which organizes the Indonesia Open, has to relocate the venue for the Indonesia Open from Istora Senayan to Jakarta’s landmark convention center of JCC. The relocation was due to Istora Senayan is now under reconstruction project to host the Asian Games sports event scheduled for next year.
“The capacity in JCC is around 3,400 for players and officials taking part in the matches. It can accommodate 2,500 spectators, far lesser than in Istora Senayan at 6,000. It might fit with our prediction on the event organizing during Ramadan,” said PBSI’s Secretary General Ahmad Budiharto.
