# Malaysian ace can win his 11th Malaysia Open title
By Rizal Abdullah
Former World No 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei can clinch his 11th Malaysia Open title in next month’s Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open SuperSeries Premier at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam from April 5-10.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) acting president Tan Sri Al-Amin Abdul Majid strongly believes that Chong Wei is on track to win the title despite an array of stars who will converge for the Malaysian Open.
“There are several factors that will drive him to give his best in the Malaysian Open and topping the list is the Rio Olympics. He needs a good showing in coming tournaments to be in the top four bracket in world rankings,” said Al-Amin during a press conference after BAM signed a three-year deal with communications giant Celcom Axiata Berhad as title sponsors of the Malaysia Open on Monday.
Chong Wei is the No 2 seed in the Malaysia Open and opens his campaign with a first round match against Hong Kong’s Wei Nan. China’s Chen Long is the top seed and plays Germany’s Marc Zwiebler in the first round.
Chong Wei, who is currently No 3 in world rankings, is the undisputed Malaysian Open king having won the men’s singles title a record 10 times from 2004.
The only blemish was in 2007 when he lost to Denmark’s Peter Gade Christensen. He also missed last year’s Malaysian Open as he was serving a ban by the Badminton World Federation for alleged doping.
A top four in world rankings will give Chong Wei a favourable seeding in the Rio Olympics in August.
Malaysia’s favourite badminton son is Malaysia’s best bet for a gold medal in the sport. He has two silver medals from the 2008 (Beijing) and 2012 (London) Olympics.
