Badminton / Malaysia Open: Seventh heaven for Chong Wei

A MAGNIFICENT seventh Malaysia Open crown arrived in no time as Lee Chong Wei produced yet another masterclass to outplay former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the final at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Chong Wei once again showed the gulf that exists between him and the pretenders -- with Lin Dan of China the only exception -- as the World No 1 cruised to a 21-8, 21-17 win in 37 minutes.

Taufik started positively by restricting Chong Wei's attacking options but the Malaysian soon found a way around that. Chong Wei, playing like a man possessed, hardly made any unforced errors to win the first game 21-8 and then cranked up the pace to completely outplay the Indonesian.

So dominant was Chong Wei that he could afford to give away nine points on the trot while leading 18-8 in the second game before killing off the match with three quick points to secure the title.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak arrived just after the final to congratulate Chong Wei while Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, who is the patron of the BA of Malaysia (BAM), was at the stadium throughout the final. "I was the only Malaysian left and I wanted this title again," said a beaming Chong Wei.

"I want to take this form into the Korea Open (which begins tomorrow) where I will go all out to defend my title there."

He added: "Misbun (Sidek) told me to keep working hard and I will be rewarded despite all the pressure I'm going through."

Taufik said he had lost to a better player but underlined a pertinent point that Chong Wei has not won a major title and urged the Malaysian to work towards achieving that goal.

"Chong Wei was so confident that he would still have won no matter how hard I tried," said Taufik.

"Chong Wei is very fast in the Super Series and I hope he can win a big title like the Olympics, World Championships or the Asian Games. I guess it is just mental but I hope he can overcome that." "I normally don't compete in the Korea Open as I don't like the freezing conditions there but I will give it try this time," Taufik added.

Chong Wei received US$30,000 (RM91,800) while Taufik took home US$15,200 (RM46,500) for their efforts.

Chong Wei has already secured the World Super Series Masters Finals and will complete the treble this month if he can win in Korea and claim the US$90,000 winner's cheque.

In the men's doubles final, Jonas Rasmussen-Mads Condrads Petersen's fairytale run was snapped when the Danish pair were outplayed by another new pair Guo Zhendong-Chai Biao of China. Rasmussen-Petersen, playing in their fifth tournament together, found the going tough against Zhendong-Chai Biao who won 21-16, 21-14.

The two pairs will square off in the first round of the Korea Open and Rasmussen is confident of exacting revenge.

"We can take heart from our defeat here and I'm confident we can beat them in Korea. We tried our best but unfortunately, we couldn't find a way past them today (yesterday). There were some great rallies so I think we gave the crowd a good show," said Rasmussen.

It was an all-China affair in the remaining three finals.

Wang Shixian secured the women's singles crown beating Wang Yihan 21-18, 21-14 while Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei edged Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang 21-12, 6-21, 21-17 for the women's doubles title.

He Hanbin-Ma Jin defeated Tao Jiaming-Tian Qing 21-13, 13-21, 21-16 in the mixed doubles.

Results -- (All Finals) Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Taufik Hidayat (Ina) 21-8, 21-17.

Doubles: Guo Zhendong-Chai Biao (Chn) bt Jonas Rasmussen-Mads Condrads Petersen (Den) 21-16, 21-14.

Women's singles: Wang Shixian (Chn) bt Wang Yihan (Chn) 21-18, 21-14.

Doubles: Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang (Chn) 21-12, 6-21, 21-17.

Mixed Doubles: He Hanbin-Ma Jin (Chn) bt Tao Jiaming-Tian Qing (Chn) 21-13, 13-21, 21-16.

NATIONAL youth coach Ong Kim Swee has warned his Young Tigers against taking their places in the Olympic squad for granted after defensive lapses led to the team's 2-1 defeat against their Thailand counterparts on Thursday.

With six players from the national side who won the AFF Suzuki Cup last month in the Young Tigers squad, Kim Swee said nobody is assured of his place yet for the Olympic qualifying first round match against Pakistan on Feb 23.

"Any player who does not perform will have to make way for others. No player is indispensable, you might come from the national team but performance in matches is very important.

"If they are not consistent and keep making mistakes, then I will have to give others a chance to play and we will see how they react," said Kim Swee on Saturday.

An error by Young Tigers captain Muslim Ahmad, a rock in the centre of defence for the national team throughout the AFF tournament, allowed Thailand to score the winner five minutes from time in the friendly match at the Rajamanggala Stadium in Bangkok which both sides used as preparation for the Olympic qualifiers.

Muslim was immediately replaced by Amer Saidin and any hope the player had to atone for his mistake vanished after the defender complained of a groin injury and was not included in the squad to play the Singapore Olympic side at Jalan Besar Stadium today.

Striker Izzaq Faris Ramlan, also part of the AFF-winning side, and winger Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor were also excluded due to injury.

Kim Swee called up national defender Faizal Muhammad, Nazirul Naim Che Hashim and Rafiuddin Rodin as replacements.

"Mistakes do happen in a match and the boys need to be alert from start to the end. We have a few experienced players in the team and I need them to set a good example and guide the other players," added Kim Swee of his expectations of the six national players in his squad.

The friendly against Singapore is the team's final warm up match ahead of Young Tigers A's Super League opener against Negri Sembilan on Jan 29.

The squad: Zamer Selamat (gk), Izham Tarmizi Roslan (gk), Mahali Jasuli, Fadhli Shas, S. Sivanesan, Irfan Fazail, Abdul Shukur Jusoh, A. Thamil Arasu, K. Gurusamy, Gary Steven Robbat, Amer Saidin, Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor, Fandi Othman, Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim, Wan Zaharul Nizam Wan Zakaria, Affizie Faizal Mamat, Faizal Muhammad, Nazirul Naim Che Hashim, Rafiuddin Rodin.