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VIENTIANE - World number one badminton player Lee Chong Wei withdrew from Malaysia's Southeast Asian Games squad on his coach's orders due to injury concerns, a report said Wednesday.
Lee's absence, a major blow to the team's hopes at the SEA Games, comes after Malaysia scooped three titles at the season-ending BWF World Super Series Masters Finals, including Lee's win in the men's singles on Sunday.
"I told him (Lee) to rest upon advice from a private doctor in Kuala Lumpur due to his nagging thigh injury," Misbun Sidek, the national singles coach, was quoted as saying by Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper.
"He needs treatment and rest," the coach said.
"Chong Wei has been suffering from this since the Hong Kong Open (last month) and it would have put him at risk if he had continued playing in a competitive tournament after the recent Super Series Masters Final."
Misbun said Lee, who pulled out of the SEA Games Monday, would take at least three weeks to recover.
"It is not a serious injury but he needs the rest to prevent it from getting more serious. I hope people will understand," he said.
Malaysia chief coach Rashid Sidek told the newspaper the badminton team could still achieve their target of two gold medals despite Lee's absence.
The biennial SEA Games were officially starting in Vientiane, capital of Laos, on Wednesday. Athletes are competing in a slimmed-down programme of 28 disciplines, down from the 40-plus two years ago.
- AFP/ir
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