Kuala Lumpur: World number one Lee Chong Wei arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Tuesday afternoon. He was greeted by fans, media members along with his wife, Wong Mew Choo and son Kingston.
When speaking to media at the airport, Chong Wei clearly still rankled by the World Championships final’s defeat.
“I tried my best in the final, but obviously it’s not enough,” said Chong Wei.
“I am going to be focusing on the Asian Games for now, I have no time yet to think about if I’ll stay until the 2016 Olympics,” added Chong Wei.
“The Asia is equally important, if not more, for me, because it only held once every four years while the world championships is held every year.”
“Furthermore, the Asian Games will be a lot tougher, because Lin Dan and Chen Long will be competing in Incheon. I’ll have to stay mentally stronger to live up to the challenge this time.”
BadmintonPlanet.com’s note to Chong Wei:
Michael Jordan once said: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
I know it’s easier said than done, but you should stop beating yourself up on the World Championships’ loss, because it’s not totally your fault. People should understand you cannot play your best badminton all the time and you must give credit to your opponent for being able to play at a higher level at the tournament. You should keep improving, focusing on your performance and don’t think about the outcome – which is winning everything for Malaysia. Not that I have anything against your patriotism, but I think Malaysia has been putting too much pressure on just one player – Lee Chong Wei.
Athletes such as Michael Jordan, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are not nervous during a big basketball or tennis match. They are not worried about winning or losing, they think only about giving their best and that is within their control. Even if you lose again, who cares? After all, you’ve already gone through all the pain anyway. So, please embrace your setbacks and failures as fuel and motivation. Accept that failure, find a solution, and comeback stronger. We all love you!
