Lee Chong Wei has pulled out of the 2016 China Open Superseries, starting 14 November, after failing to recover from a hamstring injury he sustained in October.
The Malaysian shuttler has also expressed doubts about his participation in the last Superseries event of the year - the Hong Kong Open (starting 21 November). Notably, the Badminton Association of Malaysia had registered his name for both the tournaments.
The Badminton World Federation has reportedly confirmed the defending champion Chong Wei's inability to participate in the China Open. Notably, the 34-year-old also pulled out of French Open badminton in October due to the said injury.
After winning the Japan Open in September, which was also his first tournament following his silver-medal winning Rio Olympic stint, Chong Wei was stunned in the quarter-final of the Denmark Open Superseries last month. He also picked up the injury during his 2-1 loss against unseeded French shuttler Brice Leverdez.
Chong Wei also hinted that his 2016 season might have come to an end and that he would focus on his recovery process to get back in shape for the next year. It will be interesting to see whether or not the world number one will participate in the year-ending World Superseries Final in Dubai, starting 12 December.
"I will spend the next two weeks to observe my recovery process. I am not sure if I'll play in Hong Kong Open yet, it all depends on my injury and how I feel about my condition," Chong Wei said, while speaking at a public event on Tuesday, as reported by the BadmintonPlanet.
"After all, the most important event of the year - the Olympics, has already ended, I am putting more focused on next year's schedule."
Notably, top-ranked Chinese shuttlers Lin Dan and Rio gold medallist Chen Long will, who have not played since the Rio Games, are unlikely to take part in the China Open.
Meanwhile, Chong Wei along with Malaysian diving pair Pandelela Rinong-Cheong Jun Hoong, who won silver at the Rio Games, received the Olympic Council of Malaysia's (OCM) Olympian Awards.
OCM president Tunku Imran reportedly lauded the shuttler's contribution and called the three-time Olympic silver medallist "the Usain Bolt of Malaysia".
