Mental preparation the key for Malaysia's Lee

Enlarge Photo Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei hits a return to Indonesia's Simon Santoso during their men's singles...

Thu, Jul 24 10:46 AM

By John Ruwitch

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Lee Chong Wei holds one of Malaysia's best shots at a gold medal since the country first sent athletes to the Olympics 52 years ago, but the badminton shuttler says pressure is not a problem -- yet.

With two weeks to go before the Beijing Games begin, the world No. 2 told Reuters hard-core physical training had ended and he was now getting mentally prepared to face the best badminton players in the world.

"Now mainly the preparations are mental," Lee said by telephone from Kuala Lumpur after a training session. "...You must think you can win."

Lee said he and others on the national team were taking classes three days a week to get in the right frame of mind.

Beijing will be Lee's second Olympics after he lost in the second round in Athens to China's Hong Chen, but the 25-year-old said he had matured and improved since then.

Lee staged a stunning comeback to beat China's Lin Dan at the Malaysia Open in 2006, took him down again the next year at the Sudirman Cup, and then delivered a straight sets thrashing of the world number one at this year's Thomas Cup.

But Lin is not the only threat to Lee's hopes of gold.

Other top ranked contenders include Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat and Sony Dwi Kuncoro, China's Bao Chunlai, Lee Hyun-il of South Korea and Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana.

UPSETS AND PRESSURE

Lee said he was studying tapes of his opponents but trying not to worry too much about individuals.

"Every time it's a big tournament there are upsets. Everybody says maybe in the Olympics ... the favourite players always lose in the early rounds," he said.

"I'm very careful about this also. I want to focus match to match and not think about which of my opponents will be very tough."

Malaysia has won only three medals in Olympic competition, all in badminton, one of the most popular sports in the country. A silver and bronze were won in men's doubles, and one bronze was won by Rashid Sidek in men's singles in 1996.

Malaysia also has a shot at winning a medal in the men's doubles this year.

Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah are ranked number four by the Badminton World Federation while fifth ranked Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong won the men's doubles at the 2006 Asian Games and were number one in the world rankings last year.

For now, Lee says he is not nervous.

"Maybe when I go to Beijing I'll start to feel some pressure," he said.

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