Badminton News: Chong Wei now armed with new weapon to surprise his rivals

WORLD No. 1 Lee Chong Wei is all pumped up to add spice to his game to take his hot run through the Thomas Cup Finals.
Together with coach and mentor Misbun Sidek, the duo have quietly developed a way over the last few weeks to catch the opponents by surprise in the Finals.



Chong Wei did not give much details but it is likely that the new weapon is expected to weaken his left-handed rival, Lin Dan of China.
At the last Finals in Jakarta in 2008, Chong Wei won all his first singles matches, including a fantastic win over Lin Dan.
Besides Lin Dan, Chong Wei’s top ranked counterparts in the other teams are Peter-Gade Christensen (Denmark), Park Sung-hwan (South Korea), Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) and Kenichi Tago (Japan).
Chong Wei said that he had to find something new to take his game to greater heights.
He has not lost a match since winning the Super Series Masters Finals in Johor Baru last December. And thus far this year, he won the Opens in South Korea and Malaysia and emerged as champion in the 100th edition of the All-England in Birmingham.
“I cannot afford to be doing the same thing if I want to take my game to greater heights. Everyone is out to scalp me and I am not going to make it easy for them,” he said.
“I want to keep intact my unbeaten record this year in the Thomas Cup Finals.
“If I can come up well with what I have practised over the last couple of weeks, I should be playing more aggressively and faster on court.”
Chong Wei said that Lin Dan would not be the only main threat for him in the Finals.
“It is not right to think that Lin Dan is the only challenger for me in these Finals even though the whole world wants me to play against him,” he said. “Malaysia may not even meet China. What if they lose early? I would rather give equal attention to all my opponents.”
For now, he is doing his best to play the role as the team skipper.
“I was the team captain during the Sudirman Cup last year and the team did well to win a bronze medal for the first time. We have a very united side and there is a stronger desire to win,” said Chong Wei.
Malaysia last won the Cup in 1992 at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur.