Chong Wei sails into quarter-finals in coach’s unexpected presence

THERE was thunderous applause when Misbun Sidek made a surprise entrance into the arena with Lee Chong Wei at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
And boosted by the unexpected presence of Misbun, who assumed his position on the coach’s seat, top seed Chong Wei went on the offensive to crush Hong Kong’s Hu Yun 21-6, 21-9 in just 23 minutes to check into the quarter-finals.
The world No. 1 will take on Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam today for a place in the semi-finals. And a meeting with China’s Lin Dan tomorrow is very much on the cards. The world and Asian Games champion is up against compatriot Chen Long in the quarter-finals.
Chong Wei hugged his coach Misbun after the explosive win over Hu Yun and later at the press conference said that he was happy that his coach had kept his promise to be by his side during the Malaysia Open.

Inseparable: Misbun Sidek giving some pointers to Lee Chong Wei during the world number one’s match against Hu Yun of Hong Kong at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil Thursday. — M. AZHAR ARIF/The Star

“I was surprised when he showed up during the warm-up session but I was happy. I hope he will stay on until the end of the tournament,” he said.
When asked whether Misbun was back for good, Chong Wei said: “I am not sure of that. Let my coach settle matters with the BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia).
“I will stay focused on my mission here. I have beaten Tien Minh in most of our meetings and I hope to keep the good record against him.”
Misbun, however, did not stay on after Chong Wei won his match and left via the back exit of the stadium.
The BAM’s secretary, Ng Chin Chai, said that Misbun, who had informed the association of his decision to quit as national coach on Dec 31 via email, turned up in a response to their letter to him last week.
“We sent a letter to Misbun to reconsider his decision to quit after the exco meeting. In the same letter, we told him to put the national interests first and help Chong Wei, at least during the Malaysia Open,” he said.
“He did not get back to us but by showing up here, it shows that he has responded to our letter.”
Chin Chai added that the BAM council would look into Misbun’s resignation on Sunday.
This positive turn of events may indicate that it will not be too long before Misbun gets back into the national fold as a coach.
The excitement over Misbun’s presence aside, there were also surprise results in the men’s singles competition with Indonesians Simon Santoso and Alamsyah Yunus pulling the rug from down under higher ranked players.
Simon stunned world champion Chen Jin of China with a 21-12, 18-21, 21-10 win while Alamsyah dumped sixth seed Boonsak Ponsana with a hard-fought 20-22, 21-10, 21-18 victory. The two Indonesians will be up against each other today for a place in the semi-finals.
Second seeds Taufik Hidayat made it a triple joy for Indonesia yesterday, storming into the last eight with a 21-13, 21-11 win over South Korean Shon Wan-ho.
Former Olympic and world champion Taufik was delighted over the victories chalked up by Simon and Alamsyah. He was happy for the breakthrough of the 21-year-old Alamsyah, who had been sparring with him for the last two years since the latter was dropped from the national team.
“This augurs well for Indonesia. Alamsyah did not get any opportunity to prove himself in the national team. Now he has proved himself and I am very happy for him,” said Taufik, who play against Japan’s Tago Kenichi today.

courtesy of The Star

Yangyang Rg | Create your badge



The secret to WINNING a football betting! Tips and MORE!!!

Konica Minolta magicolor 1690MF - MultifunctionKonica Minolta magicolor 1600W - Printer - color - laser - Legal, A4 - up to 20 ppm (mono) / up to 5 ppm (color) - capacity: 200 sheets - USBKonica Minolta High Capacity Black Toner Cartridge (1710587-004, 2400 Series Printers)Konica Minolta NP-1 - Camera battery Li-Ion 820 mAhKonica Minolta Dimage Z6 6MP Digital Camera with 12x Anti-Shake Zoom