Lee Chong Wei's coach Hendrawan has revealed that the world number one shuttler has resumed training ahead of next month's All England Championships, while on a recovery trial from a knee injury he sustained earlier this month after falling on a slippery mat at the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in Bukit Kiara.
The Malaysian legend had reportedly said that he was not giving up hopes of featuring in what will be his "last" All England Championships this year, starting 7 March in Brimmingham. The three-time Olympic silver medallist had made his intentions clear even before the start of the new season, revealing that he will take a decision on his retirement after playing the Badminton World Championships in August.
Chong Wei had missed the season-opening Malaysia Masters where he was set to defend the title and other Grand Prix Gold tournaments and the latest injury came as a huge setback to the shuttler's hopes of an All England appearance. However, he said he was going to push himself hard during the recovery period and head to Birmingham, where he is the top seed.
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Hendrawan added that Chong Wei has made significant improvements since last week and that his team is closely monitoring the Malaysian's situation. However, he added that they will be cautious about it and that a decision on his All England participation will be taken next week.
"Chong Wei certainly showed significant improvements comparing to last week. He had already resumed training last week, but his actual training load was limited. He participated in larger range of training today, but has not resumed the complete variety of workouts and full court training," Hendrawan said on Monday, as quoted by the Badminton Planet.
"All England is definitely one of Chong Wei's main focus this year. However, our team physical therapist and myself are closely monitoring his recovery progress from the knee injury, and we prefer to make the final decision regarding whether or not he will be fit enough to play at All England sometime next week."
Notably, the three time champion is in the same half as reigning Olympic champion Chen Long, Tian Houwei and South Korea's Son Wan Ho. Lin Dan, who is seeded sixth, will also have top-ranked Danish shuttler Jan O Jorgensen and Viktor Axelsen in his half.
