“The failure of 2015 Jakarta World Championships will lead to a gold medal success in 2016 Rio Olympics.”
That has been the promise made by men singles coach Hendrawan, in the process of guiding national no. 1 badminton player Lee Chong Wei towards winning the elusive gold medal.
According to Hendrawan, even though Chong Wei has performed below expectations in recent times, he believes that those challenges are vital en route to achieving great success.
“This is a start for Olympics. If we take a look back, Chong Wei has marched on to the final twice (Beijing 2008 and London 2012). Despite having solid preparations at that time, he still failed to win the gold,” he told Harian Metro.
The former world champion added that when changes are made, time is an important factor to consider and it’s hard to gain immediate results.
“I often motivate Chong Wei on facing these kind of challenges, which will only make him stronger. I do promise to prepare him at his best for the Olympics next year.”
The Indonesian also said: “As for now, we have one year of preparations to be done, and I will fulfill my dream of making Chong Wei the Olympic gold medalist in Rio.”
WHAT DO WE THINK?
Promise is a big word to be used by Hendrawan. As much as we have faith in Lee Chong Wei, his recent slump has proved that age is finally catching up to him, excluding other factors. His early exits in the Japan and Korea Open has suggested that it’s time for other shuttlers to step up their game in pursuit of replacing him as national number one player. Having said that, no other shuttlers have proved their worth so far, so Hendrawan’s promise will be our best shot at claiming a medal. As for Chong Wei, this will be his final chance to add that missing gold medal to his list, and will be hoping that it might be “third time lucky” for him.
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