Chong Wei Not Too Worried Over Loss To Prannoy - “It was just one of my off days.”
That’s how national shuttler Lee Chong Wei (pic) described his shock second-round loss to qualifier H.S. Prannoy of India in the Indonesian Open.
The 10-21, 18-21 loss in the US$1mil (RM4.3mil) Superseries at the Jakarta Convention Centre in Jakarta yesterday also denied Chong Wei the chance to win his seventh Indonesian Open crown.
It also marked the first time this year that world No. 3 Chong Wei has failed to clear the early rounds of an Open tournament. It was also Chong Wei’s first loss to world No. 25 Prannoy in three meetings.
But being the gallant shuttler that he is, Chong Wei accepted the defeat graciously and even praised his 24-year-old rival.
“I can’t be winning all the time. Sometimes I play poorly too. I didn’t have the rhythm and made so many mistakes,” said the three-time Olympic silver medallist.
“Prannoy was on fire. He played confidently. I saw his first-round match (against Indonesian Anthony Ginting) and he put up a really top-notch performance.
“I’ll return home tomorrow (today) and get back straight to training. There are other tournaments to look forward to.”
National coach Hendrawan attributed the 34-year-old Chong Wei’s loss to his “lacking the speed to counter an aggressive Prannoy”.
“Credit to Prannoy for putting up a good show. Chong Wei was slower than usual and that gave his opponent the room to take charge of the game,” said Hendrawan. “Chong Wei also had fewer chances to attack. We accept this defeat, but we’ll remain positive ahead of his preparation for the World Championships (in Glasgow from Aug 21-27).”
Chong Wei has won the Indonesian Open six times – in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2016 – and is the only non-Indonesian to have won the title more than once.
On Chong Wei’s participation in next week’s Australian Open in Sydney, Hendrawan said: “We’ll discuss it first. We’ll see whether there is a need for him to rest.
“Our main focus for Chong Wei is the world meet. We want him to peak at the right time.”
The Indonesian Open is fast turning into a tournament of surprises when India’s K. Srikanth upstaged fifth seed Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 21-15, 20-22, 21-16 to reach the quarter-finals.
Srikanth’s next opponent is Taiwanese giant-slayer Wang Tzu-wei, who knocked out five-time world champion Lin Dan of China in the first round.
England also enjoyed a good run when Rajiv Ouseph blew away fifth seed Shi Yuqi of China 21-12, 21-15 to set up a meeting against Kazumasa Sakai of Japan.
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