Chong Wei To Focus Game By Game At World Meet

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysian badminton ace, Lee Chong Wei is taking a cautious approach in his quest to win the elusive world title by focusing game by game ahead of the opening round of the 2017 World Championships at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow on Monday. The 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist asserted that he must clear hurdles from the top four world shuttlers from China before realising his dream to capture his maiden world title, which he failed to land in his three previous attempts. "This year it’s very tough. In the Olympics, you only have two players from a country, but in the World Championships, there are four. "So, I have to focus from the first round onwards. I’ve lost in three finals. This year I feel I have nothing to lose. You just have to beat all other players if you want to win the World Championship," he was quoted as saying in the tournament website; www.bwfworldchampionships.com. Based on the draw held at the BWF headquarters here on Aug 9, Chong Wei has been drawn against unheralded Frenchman Brice Leverdez in the opening round and barring any upset, he will meet either Misha Zilberman of Israel or Zvonimir Đurkinjak of Croatia in the second round. The real test for the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist will come in the third round against the 10th seed, Tian Houwei of China and if he manages to clear this hurdle, Chong Wei will meet Houwei's teammate, Chen Long who is the reigning world champion and also the Olympic champion, in the quarterfinals, with a possible final showdown against his arch rival, Lin Dan, also from China. Chong Wei is after the elusive maiden world championship title after emerging second best in three consecutive editions – in 2011 (England), 2013 (China) and 2015 (Indonesia), besides coming in third at the 2005 edition in the United States. He lost to Lin Dan in 2011 and 2013 and to Chen Long in the 2015 edition. -- BERNAMA