Lee working towards quick recovery

KUALA LUMPUR : World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei is determined to make a quick recovery from injury to enable him to chalk up a new milestone in his career at the Laos SEA Games in December.

Chong Wei said that he was relieved that he did not have to undergo surgery for a knee injury, which he aggravated at the Japan Open last month (the injury resulted in a quarter-final defeat by Indonesian Simon Santoso).

Chong Wei will be under a six-week rehabilitation programme at the National Sports Institute (NSI). He is hoping to come out of the forced break quickly to compete in the last two Super Series events – in Hong Kong (Nov 10-15) and China (Nov 17-22).

“It is unfortunate that this injury has affected my training programme,” said Chong Wei after going through a rehabilitation session in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

“But I am happy that I did not have to undergo surgery, which would have forced me to take an even longer break.”

Currently, he has light training on skills in the morning under national singles coach Misbun Sidek before heading for the rehabilitation session. In the afternoon, he works on upper body movement in the gymnasium.

“I am surely out of the French Open (Oct 27-Nov1). But I am determined to plough through the training although it is done in moderation,” he said.

“Hopefully, I will be in better condition to compete in Hong Kong and China. I will be able to see where I stand as far as the condition of the knee is concerned.”

Chong Wei said that he did not want to give up the opportunity to represent the country in the SEA Games in Vientiane.

“I have won a team gold but have not tasted success in the individual event. I want to achieve this and so does my coach. And this will be my motivation to recover as quickly as possible,” he said.

It will not be easy for Chong Wei to score a first in the SEA Games. There are strong contenders for honours in Indonesians Simon Santoso and Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh and Thai Boonsak Ponsana.