Chong Wei Eyeing Fourth Super Series Masters Finals Title

By Kenny Teng Khoon Hock GEORGE TOWN (Penang,Malaysia), Dec 10 (Bernama) -- National top men's singles shuttler Datuk Lee Chong Wei wants to continue being the master of the badminton world. The 29-year-old is eyeing the Super Series Masters Finals title to maintain his four-year reign as the world number one. Despite insufficient time to prepare for the prestigious event, he wants to give his best in the tournament as it was the last competition for this year. "I just returned from Macau and did not have much time to prepare physically but I am mentally prepared for it (Super Series). "Tomorrow (Sunday), I will be leaving for China and hope to play well in the competition to win the fourth title," he told reporters here Saturday. Chong Wei is the top seeded player in the tournament and the draw will be made on Dec 13. The winner of the Super Series Masters Finals in 2008, 2009 and last year will be seriously challenged by two seeded players –- China's Lin Dan and Chen Long -- in the competition which begins at Liuzhou, China from Dec 14-18. He has lost twice to both Chen Long and Lin Dan in the last three months but if the Malaysian puts his mind to it, he may reconfirm his status as the king of the Super Series. However, Chong Wei said he had already set his sights on the London Olympics next year and within the next eight months, he would try his best to play well in every tournament to maintain his world ranking. He said he would train hard (in the next eight months) and try to be cautious on his games to avoid any injury ahead of the Games. "I am very sure I will qualify for the Olympics but the seeding in the events is very important and I want to be world number one to avoid meeting Lin Dan in the semi-finals," he said. Meanwhile, Chong Wei said he was surprised that he had received the highest number of votes from fans on the recent online poll conducted by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). He said he was surprised with the results but believed it could be because he could communicate well with the people in every tournament he had entered. According to a recent report, Chong Wei overcame his arch rival and nemesis Lin Dan by 12 per cent in the online poll entitled 'Who Would You Like to Have as the 2011 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Male Player Of The Year' through the BWF's official website www.bwfbadminton.org and social media platforms Twitter, Weibo and Facebook. Earlier, Chong Wei, the KDU (Damansara Utama College) brand ambassador visited its campus in Penang state and gave away autographed Yonex racquets to the first 20 students who registered with the college, in conjunction with its open day. -- BERNAMA