Former world number one shuttler Lee Chong Wei is looking to reclaim his spot on top of the BWF rankings, before the Rio Olympics
The badminton ace slid down the rankings after his doping scandal at the end of 2014. In fact, he was even ranked 182 at one point, after an eight-months absence from the game.
Chong Wei was unable to climb back easily from the bottom but the 33 year-old shoved away all odds when he managed to stand as high as the second place so far in the latest update from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“It’s not easy for me to be at this level. Besides the need to maintain a good physique, I have to have a strong mentality. Being able to be ranked at second place is a surprise for me. Overall, I am very satisfied with this achievement,” said Chong Wei as quoted from Berita Harian.
The Penangite, whom recently bagged a hometown win in the Malaysian Masters, hopes to maintain his rank within the top four to prevent himself from playing against the strong players during the early stages of the tournament.
“I’ll try my best to go back to being number one worldwide before the Olympics. I still have five to seven more championships in order to remain in the top four before May.”
Chong Wei stated that his greatest challenge is not only from Chinese rivals Lin Dan and Chen Long but also rising young players such as Japan’s Kento Momota, Denmark’s Viktor Axelson and India’s Kidambi Srikanth.
The Olympic silver medalist also admitted that coach Hendrawan and Tey Seu Bock have arranged excellent programs and plans to improve his performance for the Olympics.
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