Denmark snapshots: Chong Wei predicts difficult 2014

Lee Chong Wei

Lee Chong Wei’s energy levels are amazing. No player competes in as many tournaments as he does, and that is saying something, considering that he wins most and loses few. This year, for instance, he competed in nine tournaments (apart from Sudirman Cup), winning five, and finishing runner-up at three, which gives us an idea of the number of weeks he’s out on the tour.

At 31, he’s perhaps stretching it, but he is aware of the demands on his body and mind. The next year in particular, he says with some concern, is going to be tough. “There are some big competitions coming up, like the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Both are important. It’s not like the World Championships, which will happen every year. I don’t know what to focus on. I just try to focus one by one. I have two World Championships silver medals, and I want to win the gold. Of course I’m not young. I think next year is going to be very tough for me.”

It isn’t often that Chong Wei speaks his mind on these things, but in Denmark he was remarkably frank and friendly. I asked him about the Indian Badminton League.

“So far everything is okay, it’s good,” Chong Wei replied. “I don’t know if it will be held next year. I played for Mumbai Masters, and we lost in the semifinals. Next year I don’t know what team I will be playing for. I hope the IBL will be on next year.”

Having played in the China league as well, he says he finds it difficult to adjust to the conventional scoring system. “In the China league, it’s 11 points. In IBL it’s 21 points, but 11 points in the third game. Sometimes I get confused. When I play in this tournament (Denmark), I was expecting it to end at 11! It’s okay, every league is different. It’s good promotion for badminton.”

Everybody wants to beat me, says Ratchanok

Thai teenager Ratchanok Intanon sprung a surprise with her win at the World Championships, and not unsurprisingly, she is the one under the radar. Rivals will be that much hungrier to beat her, and she will have to be prepared for extensive analysis of her style and game. The Thai, however, still comes across as friendly and relaxed, and tries her best to answer in English after an early round victory. “Denmark is my first tournament after the world championships,” she says. “I haven’t had competition for a long time. I try to relax. I try to control the shuttle because my footwork was not good, I was nervous.”

Is there greater pressure on her as world champion? “I don’t think about being world champion because it will cause pressure on me,” she says. “I think about playing for the experience. I think they (Chinese) want to beat me because I’m the world champion, and I want to improve even more, because everybody wants to beat me.”

Setiawan surprised to be world champion

Hendra Setiawan is perhaps the most unflappable character in world badminton. His relaxed style bears no giveaway to the fact that he is one of the craftiest – and it’s a skill that has helped him to two World Championships and one Olympic gold. The two world titles came with different partners, Markis Kido and Mohammad Ahsan.

“Kido was my partner for years,” Setiawan says, when asked to compare the two. “Ahsan is young and has speed and power. We really need to brush up our skill. We will need to establish communication, and with my experience, we can mix up things. I was surprised to win the World Championships as we hadn’t even been a pair for a year.”

The Hendra-Ahsan pair has been the most dominant one this year, with three straight Superseries wins either side of the World Championships – an astonishing streak of 20 straight victories. How long can this run of form go on? “I cannot predict,” Setiawan says. “I’m hoping for a couple of years more, perhaps until I retire.”