Lee Hopes to Claim First Olympic Badminton Gold Medal after Three Attempts.

Rio de Janeiro, 06 Dzulqa’dah 1437/09 August 2016 (MINA) – World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei tried to enjoy himself despite the pressure of launching his fourth and final bid to deliver a maiden Olympic Games badminton gold medal for himself and Malaysia. It is also possible for Indonesia to clinch golds in men’s single.

“This is my fourth Olympics so I can enjoy this time because it is also my last,” said Lee, who made the second round at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games before losing in Beijing 2008 and London 2012 finals. “I feel more pressure on my shoulders as after the next four years I think I will have no chance, so this is my last chance.”

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The top seed in Rio 2016 started his training in the Riocentro Pavilion 4 together with other Malaysia’s players here since the last day of July, 10 days before the competition.

Malaysia’s chef de mission, Mohamed Al-Amin Abdul Majid, said they had to arrive very early to get better prepared for the Games.

“We have 11 hours’ time difference and we thought we need about one day per hour to adjust, so about 10 days in total,” Majid was quoted by Xinhua as saying. “Obviously we also wanted to get here early to get used to the courts because it makes a lot of difference to see whether there is a draft, or whether lighting is an issue.”

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The 33-year-old Lee was drawn in group A of the men’s singles and will meet China’s Lin Dan in the semifinals in Rio, with China’s world number two Chen Long playing in the other half of the draw.

World No. 7 Indonesian shuttler Tommy Sugiarto will also get to play at the highest level of international badminton championships when he was listed as one of the 10 Indonesian badminton players who will take part in the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro based on the latest BWF world ranking.

Indonesia has set a lofty target for the 2016 Olympics of winning golds in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles. It is also possible for Indonesia to clinch golds in men’s singles and women’s doubles if the Indonesian shuttlers can achieve their extraordinary level of performance. (T/R07/R01)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)