Can Lee Chong Wei win the World Championship this year?

The Big question today is Can Lee Chong Wei win the World Championship this year?

The player for which the whole Malaysia and the badminton fraternity must be praying to win this year's World Championship in Glasgow is Lee Chong Wei.

Well what to talk about this great man who has been in professional badminton for so long and carrying the burden of hopes of Malaysia for such a long period and performing each and every time. He is the king of super series events performing consistently in each and every super series event so consistently that it is also impossible to match his super series record. When we talk about the Major badminton events he has been consistent and performing exceptionally, just the sad part is that he has not been the champion of these events.

If we consider World championships and Olympics he has six silvers ,which is very disheartening to see. He is a motivation for all young badminton players and surely for whole Malaysia but this fact really gives pain. Even his losses are not one sided, they are very closely lost matches. The 2012 Olympic finals and 2011 World Championship finals are probably the best badminton matches ever played. But the sad part is both the times Lee Chong Wei was at the losing side. But the question is Can this be the year we all are  waiting for? Can this be the year when Lee Chong Wei wins his first gold in World Championship?

If this does not happen this year then may be it will never happen!!!Because he his already 34 and playing his fourth Olympic seems nearly impossible. Who all are biggest hurdles in front of Lee Chong Wei? I think there are primarily two of them considering the fact that since last few 6-7 years the finals have been played among the three of them only.

 Lin Dan:  The Super Dan is the biggest threat in front of Lee CW. Having beaten him twice in Olympics and World Championships ,he has broken Lee Chong Wei’s dreams many times in the major events. Also Lin Dan has beaten Lee Chong Wei twice this year once in Malaysian open and again in  Asia championship.Sadly both the matches were pretty much one sided .Not only this the Chinese leads the head to as 27-12 .The good thing is in Glasgow both of them are placed in opposite halves and hence will meet in the finals only. Whenever these two play the level of badminton is at its peak and the match is worth a final only.

   Chen Long:  The second threat to Lee Chong Wei's dreams is Chen Long from China again. Chen Long has beaten Lee Chong Wei once in Olympics and once in World Championships also. In both the above mentioned meetings Lee Chong Wei was the favourite to win but interestingly both the times the Chen Long took away the game that too in straight sets. Clearly this shows how much pressure Lee feels when he plays against this man. The head to head is even interesting as its is levelled at 13-13. In fact the speed and the fitness that Chen Long brings in can be matched by very few players. How Lee and Chen stand today can not be commented as they have not played each other since the Rio Olympics.

     It is not that these two are are only challengers to Lee Chong Wei. There are a few players like Son Wan Ho from Korea, K.Srikanth from India, Victor Axelsen from Denmark who can pose a challenge to Lee but they have not been able to surpass the excellence of Lee Chong Wei ,Lin Dan and Chen Long in the World Championships.

   But the difference between Lee Chong Wei of today and 3-4 years back was that he didn't used to loose before semi finals of tournament that too to new faces. But as far as Olympics and World Championships are concerned he has kept his level very high.Its just that luck has not been his way.He can surely learn from some like Roger Federer who is enjoying a late carrier success.He is not taking that much pressure as he used to and hence he is shinning. Similarly Lee Chong Wei is a legend ,the consistency that he has shown over his carrier is unmatchable. He just needs to enjoy the game now and you never know this might be the year which he has been waiting for so long.