Lee Chong Wei wants to win Indonesia World Superseries Premier, starting 12 June at Jakarta Convention Centre, and prove he is still the best in the business at the highest level, according to Malaysia badminton national singles coach Hendrawan.
The world number one will also become the first shuttler to win seven Indonesia Open titles, surpassing Indonesia greats Ardy Wiranata and Taufik Hidayat's record of six titles each, if the Malaysian shuttler manages to defend his title in Jakarta. Chong Wei starts the tournament as the top seed and heads into the tournament on the back of a semi-final defeat to Lin Dan at the Badminton Asia Championships.
"This [Indonesia Open] is probably one of his biggest Superseries events ... he wants to win it and to show that he still has a lot to offer.There's fire in Chong Wei's belly. He wants to win it a record seventh time and to overtake both Ardy and Taufik," Hendrawan said, as quoted by The Star.
"Although I am Indonesian, I will definitely be proud if Chong Wei makes it happen. For some reason, no other foreign shuttler has won the title more than once ... except Chong Wei."
Hendrawan though believes that the defending champion has to be at his best as he has been handed a tough draw. Notably, Chong Wei will open his campaign world number 29 Tommy Sugiarto and a quarter-final test against reigning Olympic champion Chen Long awaits him. If he manages to get past the Chinese shuttler, a possible semi-final outing against third seed Viktor Axelsen is on the cards.
Chong Wei has had decent success this season as he won the All England title without breaking a sweat. However, he faced back-to-back defeats to arch-rival Lin (Malaysia Open final and BAC semi-final) before he lead Malaysia's campaign at Sudirman Cup last month in Gold Coast, Australia.
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