One wish from Wan Wah (pic)

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KUALA LUMPUR: The year has come to a close and national doubles shuttler Lee Wan Wah is praying that he can usher in the new season on a good note. 

Wan Wah is racing against time to recover from a knee injury suffered in the Hong Kong Open early last month and his participation in the Malaysian Open in two weeks' time with his partner, Choong Tan Fook, is in doubt. 

The 32-year-old Wan Wah has been on rehabilitation since suffering the injury and he also lost precious time on court when he had an operation recently to remove a cyst from his left knee. 

“I came back to training only last week after undergoing rehabilitation for three weeks. I still feel a bit of pain each time I try to step up training.  

“My current condition does not allow me to push myself in training,” he said.

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Worried: Lee Wan Wah (left) and Choong Tan Fook hope to play in the Malaysian Open so as not to lose ranking points towards Olympic qualifcation.

Wan Wah added that he was not sure whether he would get fit enough to compete in the Malaysian Open. 

“If I can follow most of the training programme over the next 10 days, I should be okay to play. Otherwise, I have to discuss with my coach (Rexy Mainaky) on whether to give the Open a miss,” he said. 

Wan Wah-Tan Fook were the champions in 2004. If they miss the season-opening Super Series tournament, it will make it difficult for them to maintain their current fifth spot in the world rankings.  

“I hope that I will not have to miss the Malaysian Open because we will lose ranking points towards Olympic qualification.  

“There are only a few Super Series tournaments before the qualification period ends in May,” said Wan Wah. 

“Our hope for next year is to qualify to play in another Olympics and, if possible, get a top four seeding.” 

Wan Wah-Tan Fook have played in two Olympics and their best result was a fourth-place finish in 2000 in Sydney. 

In tournaments last year, besides retaining the Asian Championships title, Wan Wah-Tan Fook were the runners-up in three Open tournaments – in Singapore, Macau and France.  

They were semi-finalists in the China Open and World Championships. 

 

 

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