Dato’ Lee is back to his winning Wei(s).
The Malaysian badminton hero took the Asian Badminton Championships (ABC) singles crown after a hard-fought 21-17, 15-21, 21-13 victory over China’s Chen Long on Sunday.
It took the 33-year-old a staggering 82 minutes to beat the world number one to claim his third title of the season, after his victories in the Malaysian Masters in January and the Malaysian Open three weeks ago.
“Winning today (yesterday) has certainly boosted my confidence as I prepare for the Thomas Cup and also the Olympics, which is my goal for the year,” he told The Star Online. “My condition is pretty good right now and I’m keeping myself focused on the two major tournaments.”
The ABC win is the second in his career, after having first won it in 2006. If that’s not impressive enough, he defeated two of his biggest rivals enroute to the title, including one over five-time world champ Lin Dan whom he defeated in the semi-finals on Saturday before his major win on Sunday. The former world number one has not lost to both Chen Long (four times) or Lin Dan (two times) in the past six months.
“It’s never easy to win (titles) in China and having beaten Lin Dan and Chen Long is definitely special,” said Chong Wei, who pocketed a cool RM60,000 for his win.
Chong Wei is now back in Malaysia for a one-week centralised training with the Thomas Cup squad.
We only have one thing to say: Wei to go, LCW! (Okay, we’ll stop with the puns)
