Badminton celebrity Lee Chong Wei will miss the World Championships in August after falling down the scores following a prolonged absence because of most cancers, a reputable stated on Wednesday (May 8).
It means the Malaysian former global No. 1 loses the threat to win the world name for the first time and offers some other blow to his fading hopes of competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Michelle Chai, the preferred supervisor of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), stated Lee – presently ranked 113 within the international – might no longer play inside the championships in Switzerland from Aug 19-25.
“Lee Chong Wei won’t take part within the world championship as he presently does not qualify on merit,” she instructed AFP.
United States can send a maximum of gamers who’re within the international pinnacle a hundred and fifty and there are Malaysians currently above Lee – Lee Zii Jia and Liew Daren.
BAM president Norza Zakaria confirmed the body would advise players based on rankings released on the cease of April.
“As we recognize, Chong Wei is not a part of the listing and he’s nevertheless operating on his health,” he changed into quoted as saying by means of The Star newspaper.
“The priority for Chong Wei now is for him to recover from his illnesses, so allow’s attention on that first.”
The triple Olympic silver medallist has been out due to the fact July last year while he became identified with early-stage nose cancer.
The 36-year-old endured a hard remedy programme in Taiwan however opted now not to retire and resumed education in January.
He skipped the All England Open in March and the Malaysia Open in April – each tournament where he had was hoping to make a comeback – and also will leave out this month’s Sudirman Cup combined-group occasion in China.
PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Lee Chong Wei’s life-lengthy pursuit of the guys’ singles crown on the World Championships is all however over.
The 36-year-antique is ready to overlook out on a 2d immediately world meet in Basel, Switzerland, from Aug 19-25.
The qualifying length for the world meet ended on April 30 and the 36-yr-antique Chong Wei did not make the cut due to the fact his global ranking has dropped to No. One hundred fifteen after a long absence because of an early-level nose most cancers.
A country can simplest have a most of gamers if each of them are in the pinnacle one hundred fifty within the world rankings.
Lee Zii Jia and Liew Daren – ranked No. 21 and No. 24 respectively, have certified on benefit.
Chong Wei has a blanketed ranking of worldwide No. Three until Aug 14, however, it most effective applies to the World Tour tournaments.
Badminton World Federation (BWF) in a declaration the day prior to this said: “If a participant is eligible for, and is granted a protected rating, this protected ranking is most effective relevant for entry in BWF World Tour tournaments.”
And BWF had additionally confirmed that there may be no wild playing cards issued for the Basel meet.
“The BWF have decided no longer to award any wildcards for the Total BWF World Championships 2019 in Basel, Switzerland,” delivered the announcement.
The BWF formerly surpassed -time Olympic champion Lin Dan a wildcard to play inside the 2013 edition in Guangzhou, China and he went on to claim his 5th international crown by using beating Chong Wei 21-sixteen, 13-21, 20-17.
Chong Wei pulled out with harm while Lin Dan held the championship point in the rubber game.
