Choong Hann set to make a record third appearance in Olympic Games

Shuttler Wong Choong Hann intends to stop playing for the national team after the Beijing Olympics in August.

And that is good reason enough for him to go the extra mile to join national number one and world number two Lee Chong Wei as the second Malaysian entry for the men's singles of the Games competition in August.

Choong Hann is now ranked at number 16 – ahead of fellow Malaysians Mohd Hafiz Hashim (17), Lee Tsuen Seng (18) and Mohd Roslin Hashim (19). A country can have a maximum of two entries if both players are ranked among the top 16.

And with two more Super Series to play before the Olympic qualification deadline at the end of April, Choong Hann is ready to battle it out to claim a berth with strong performances at the All-England and Swiss Open in March.

“I am certainly on course. My plan is to go inside the top 16 before the All-England,” he said.
“Hafiz is set to drop further after the Korean Open ranking points are added on later this week (Hafiz was a first-round casualty) and it is working well for me.

“I should be able to stay inside the top 16 from now even if I lose in the first round of the coming two Super Series.”

The 2003 World Championships runner-up is certainly relishing the challenge of playing in the twilight of his career and earning a record third appearance in the Olympics will be an achievement.

The 31-year-old Choong Hann only started to make a comeback early last year after having surgery to mend a ruptured tendon. He suffered the injury in the 2006 Thomas Cup Finals in Japan but make a superb recovery to return to train after only six months.

“If I qualify, I will enjoy it more than last time, given the circumstances.

“I probably enjoy playing more at my age now and it is a rare chance to make it to the Olympics for the third time,” he said.

“On hindsight, I thought I was at my peak in Athens and wanted to win a medal so much (he lost to eventual winner Taufik Hidayat in the third round). But I will look at things differently this time.”

On his plans after the Olympics, Choong Hann said that he would probably leave the national team but is still undecided on what he wanted to do.

“I may play a little bit for fun and probably go into coaching,” said Choong Hann, who made it to the second round of the opening two Super Series tournament – in Kuala Lumpur and in Seoul.
In the meantime, Choong Hann's focus is to strengthen his current position by aiming to beat any of the top-10 players in the All-England scheduled for March 6-9.