ODENSE (Denmark): World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei is putting his birthday celebrations on hold – at least until he completes the Denmark Open.
Chong Wei’s 31st birthday is on Oct 21 – a day after the final of the Denmark Open.
And the two-time Olympic silver medallist has pledged to focus solely on the tournament. He will wait until he goes to Paris for the French Open before celebrating his birthday.
An extra incentive for him to do so is the fact that his family – wife Wong Mew Choo and son Kingston – will meet up with him in Paris for the celebrations.
“I celebrate my birthday almost every year here in Denmark and the organisers have been really nice to me,” said Chong Wei after a training session on Tuesday.
“I don’t really put too much emphasis on my birthday … probably until the tournament is over.
“My family will be meeting up with me in Paris. So, it’ll be better to keep the celebrations until then.
“For now, my main focus is to prepare myself well before I take to the court. My condition has been good so far and I’ve been training well.
“Ultimately, I just need to be wary of my opponents each round because it’s a big tournament. It will be tough because all the top players will be here and they will be playing their best,” added Chong Wei, who faces a qualifier in the opening round on Wednesday.
Two other Malaysians – Liew Daren and Chong Wei Feng – are also in the main draw. They have tough first round matches with Daren playing India’s P. Kashyap and Wei Feng facing sixth seed Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam.
China’s challenge will be spearheaded by world No. 2 Chen Long and world No. 3 Du Pengyu, who is tipped to meet Chong Wei in the semi-finals.
