Standing in The Eye of Da World

Chong Wei nets first title as the world number one

IT turned out to be the perfect end to the season for Malaysia’s world number one men’s singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei.After failures to justify his lofty status as the top player in the world in previous tournaments, Chong Wei got it right with a sensational 21-8, 21-16 win over Denmark’s Peter Gade-Christensen in the final of the Super Series Masters Finals at the Likas Indoor Stadium in Kota Kinabalu yesterday. Malaysia’s also won the men’s and women’s doubles through Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty respectively. And the three successes will go into the history books as the country’s best-ever achievement in a major individual championships. Yesterday’s breakthrough was meaningful for Chong Wei and he took his time to savour every moment of it — with over 5,000 passionate fans cheering and chanting his name in the packed stadium.Chong Wei had not won any title since taking the world number one crown from Lin Dan after the loss to the Chinese star in the Beijing Olympics final in August. Yesterday’s win was also his easiest over Gade-Christen­sen.He broke the confidence of the Dane with an explosive start and raced to 12-0 lead in just three minutes. The Dane did his best to recover and give a better fight in the second game but the on-song Chong Wei was not to be denied.For Chong Wei, it was his third Super Series title this year after the Malaysian and Singapore Opens. “Finally, the burden is off my shoulder. I have won a title as world number one. But I am surprised I scored an easy win over Peter,” he said.“I skipped the Hong Kong Open (the last leg of the Super Series) to focus on getting it right here. And I am so happy that it had paid off.” Soon after his win, Chong Wei called up his coach, Misbun Sidek, who is ill, to share the joyful moment. Misbun had been down with fever since returning from Mecca on Friday and was unable to make the trip to Kota Kinabalu.Chong Wei agreed that the victory would have meant more to him if Lin Dan were in the competition. “The competition would have been greater. But I will try my best to maintain this status and hopefully, I will be able to win again when every top player is in the field,” he said. Chong Wei has set his sights on winning his first All-England title and the World Championships next year. He will take a short break before preparing for the defence of the Malaysian Open title in two weeks’ time.World number five Gade-Christensen was a shattered man. “It is not often that I get beaten in this manner. Chong Wei’s performances reminded me of how Lin Dan defeated him to win the Olympic gold medal. Their speed is impressive.”

Doubles crackers Koo-Tan declare they’re back to their best

THE Malaysian men’s pair of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong have sent a crystal clear warning that they are back to dominate world badminton next year.The duo put up a fantastic show yesterday to end the hot streak of South Koreans Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung, winning the men’s doubles final of the Super Series Masters Finals 21-18, 21-14. The odds were heavily stacked against the Malaysians to beat the All-England champions, who had won the last two Super Series tournaments in China and Hong Kong. But they turned the tables on the Koreans with superb attacking play.En route to their first major title this year, they defeated all the top pairs and the success will be a tremendous boost to their confidence. It was the Malaysians’ second international title this year after the Macau Open in October.Despite the big win, there was no big celebration from Kien Keat-Boon Heong. “I think that having not won a big event for a long time, we did not know how to celebrate. But this win means a lot to us,” he said. “We did not drop a single match in this tournament even though the field was a very intimidating one. And that has given us a lot of confidence.” Kien Keat added that they had learned to trust each other better in good and bad times and that had led to their comeback. “We trust each better and we are more relaxed. We cover each other’s weaknesses. It is not a show of an individual but two people who want the same things,” said Kien Keat. “Now we know how to handle the situation when we are down. And we know how to cope when we are winning. This will help us to go far.” Boon Heong said that they hoped to keep up with their momentum. “What a surprise it has been for us to end the year by winning this title even though we are not in the best of condition. We can do better than this with better training,” he said. “I hope I can maintain playing like this. Our next stop is the Malaysian Open, which is just over two weeks away. The real challenge is to stay consistent.” Eei Hui-Pei Tty cap tremendous year with biggest title IT is rare to see the women’s doubles shuttlers Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty show their emotions on the court but yesterday, they jumped for joy and hugged each other after nailing their biggest career title. The duo lived up to their top billing to take the Super Series Masters Finals women’s doubles title with a hard-fought 21-15, 22-20 victory over Indonesians Lilyana Natsir-Vita Marissa at the Likas Indoor Stadium in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.It could have been an easy task for Eei Hui-Pei Tty but they made life difficult for themselves and trailed 14-19 in the second game. But known for their tremendous fighting spirit and true grit, the world No. 2 pair showed nerves of steel to make a remarkable comeback to seal victory.With the win yesterday, Eei Hui-Pei Tty capped their most successful year of their badminton careers. They had won the Danish Open and emerged as the runners-up in the French Open, China Open and reached the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open. Pei Tty was happy that they succeeded in capitalising on the absence of the China pairs. “It could have been different in the presence of the Chinese pairs. But in their absence, we knew the fight for the title was open and we stood a very good chance of winning it. We are glad that we took our chances well,” she said. Pei Tty added that past, they would have panicked and cracked if they trailed in the crucial stages of a match. “But not now. We have grown to be more steady in the crucial stages. We keep our emotions in check and we do not get rattled easily,” she said. Pei Tty added that they had bridged the gap with the top pairs from China and South Korea. “We know where we stand even though we won a major title today. We certainly have narrowed the gap but more work needs to be done to beat the top Chinese pairs consistently,” she said. Although happy, Eei Hui said that she needed to improve on her physical condition if they are to keep up with the strong pairs in the world next season.Eei Hui had lacked training as she had spent some time taking a break and going for rehabilitation on ankle and knee injuries. “It has been a great year for us. But I know that I will have to work on my physical condition. I have to be fitter to complement Pei Tty better,” she said.