Defending champion, Lee Chong Wei, will not be making an appearance at next month’s Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open for the first time in nearly a decade, on the back of his alleged doping scandal.
According to reports, the world number one was on the initial entry list (which was released on October 17th) for the USD$350,000 tournament at the Hong Kong Coliseum from November 18th to the 23rd. However, when organizers finalized the list over the weekend, his spot was replaced by China’s Chen Long, while Denmark’s Jan O. Jorgenson took the second seeding.
Since 2005, Chong Wei has claimed the men’s singles title three times in Hong Kong, including an easy straight games victory over Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro.
This further fuels speculation that the Malaysian is in fact, the “unnamed athlete” in question that’s been linked to the doping scandal. Malaysian authorities have confirmed that one of its top shuttlers had failed a doping test at the World Championships in Copenhagen back in August, but declined to reveal any names until the second test is completed.
According to the rules, if a player tests positive for a banned substance in the A sample, he/she will not be allowed to take part in any tournament until the result of the B sample is released.
The athlete in question has already requested for a B test, which will be carried out on either November 4th or 5th at a lab in Oslo, Norway.
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