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| Better luck: The plates on Lee Chong Wei’s two cars carry the number 6. |
KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Lee Chong Wei’s favourite number is 6.
The number plates on his two cars are 6. His latest house address is No. 6.
In August, he will be competing in his sixth World Championships in London.
And he is hoping that six will be his lucky charm as he bids to become the country’s first world badminton champion.
“Six has been a lucky number for me. I am going for my sixth world meet and, hopefully, I will be lucky enough to win it this time,” said world No. 1 Chong Wei after a training session at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“In Chinese, the digit six refers to luck also. And I think, I may need some of it this time after falling short in my previous world outings.”
Chong Wei has gone through a roller-coaster ride in his five previous World Championships campaigns.
He enjoyed a splendid World Championships debut in the United States in 2005, performing better than his seniors to reach the semi-finals.
He was a quarter-finalist in 2006 (Madrid), 2009 (Hyderabad) and 2010 (Paris) and he made it to the third round in 2007 (Kuala Lumpur).
Chong Wei said that his obsession with number six began when he won his first international title at the 2004 Malaysia Open.
He was then presented with a car registration plate bearing the number 6 by Ling Hee Leong, the son of former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik.
“The unique gift meant a lot to me because it was my first international title. Since then, I have been winning titles. So, I decided to stick to number six as my lucky charm. I tend to go after this number whenever I am in a position to choose,” he said.
Chong Wei also gave his World Championships preparations the thumbs-up.
The 29-year-old has one more international assignment – the Indonesia Open next week – before he heads to London for the world event.
And the Malaysian is hoping to win his third back-to-back title in Jakarta for a timely boost.
Chong Wei is the top seed for the Premier Super Series event and his main rival will again be China’s Lin Dan.
“I am happy with my preparations for the world meet so far. I am injury-free and I am focused on doing well. A good outing in the Indonesia Open will put me in good stead for the world meet,” said Chong Wei, who will leave for Jakarta tomorrow.
“It will be great if I can meet Lin Dan in the final but that does not mean I will take the others lightly. It is always best to tread with caution from the first round onwards.”
In Chong Wei’s half are South Korean Lee Hyun-il; China’s Chen Long, Wang Zhengming and Du Pengyu; Japan’s Tago Kenichi and Kazushi Yamada; Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen; and Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana.
The lower half will have second seed Lin Dan; Denmark’s Peter-Gade Christensen; Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat; and South Korean Park Sung-hwan.
If Chong Wei wins the Indonesia Open, it will be his sixth title of the year.
He has also won the Super Series Masters Final, Malaysia Open, All-England, India Open and the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold.
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