Badminton: Lee eyes Olympics after Malaysia win

Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei celebrates with his trophy and his gold medal after defeating Kenichi Tago of Japan in the Malaysia Open Badminton Superseries in Kuala Lumpur yesterday

World number one Lee Chong Wei equalled a badminton legend’s record of eight Malaysia Open titles yesterday, trouncing his opponent in the final and declaring he had his sights set on Olympic gold.
The Malaysian emulated compatriot Wong Peng Soon’s record of winning eight men’s singles titles with a comprehensive 21-6, 21-13 victory over Japan’s Kenichi Tago.
“It feels great to have equalled a legend’s record and now I have set my sights on winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal,” said Lee, who was a runner-up at the Beijing Olympics four years ago.
Lee’s previous Malaysia Open titles came in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and last year while Wong’s eight wins were in 1940, 1941, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953.
“I will now cut down my commitments and focus on the Olympics. For sure I will play in the Thomas Cup and the All England as they are the very important tournaments to me and the country,” he added.
“The win is a good Chinese New Year present for me and I will now enjoy a short break with my family before resuming training.”
Meanwhile, Denmark’s Christinna Pedersen-Kamilla Rytter-Juhl captured their first Superseries title together when they defeated South Korea’s Ha Jung-Eun/Kim Min-Jung 21-19, 21-18 in a keenly contested match-up.
The Danes, who are accomplished mixed doubles players, will move up the world rankings after this win and give a boost to their hopes of qualifying for the Olympics.
In the men’s doubles, Taipei’s Fang Chieh-Min/Lee Sheng-Mu defeated South Korea’s Cho Gun-Woo/Shin Baek-Choel (KOR) 16-21, 21-16, 21-16 to win the third Superseries title of their careers but their first in almost two years.
World champions Wang Yihan and Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei won the women’s singles and doubles titles.
Wang, who lost in the final last year, defeated teammate Wang Xin in straight sets, 21-19, 21-11.