KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Chong Wei is to give badminton one final whirl in London later this month. According to a statement he gave reporters before leaving Kuala Lumpur for England, the national men's singles badminton champ said he would be focusing on training ahead of the start of the Olympic Games. After the tournament, he said, he planned on retiring from the sport in 2014, making this his final chance for gold. Chong Wei is currently battling an ankle injury that threatens to see him miss the Games in London. “The 12-day training is critical for my teammates and I as my (ankle) injury needs to heal before I face my opponent,” he said when met by reporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Thursday. He left for London with five other national players comprising men's doubles Koo Kien Kiat and Tan Boon Heong, mixed doubles Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, women's singles Tee Jing Yi and officials from the Badminton Association of Malaysia, National Sports Council and National Sports Institute. Malaysia has never had a gold medalist at the Olympic Games and much hope rests on the star player to bring over the hardware.
