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HELLO CAN-DRICK
(Shuttler Kendrick Lee Changes Image With Can-Do Spirit At Indonesia Open)
By Cai Zongren
From plain Kendrick to gutsy Can-drick. Indeed, there was a time when Kendrick Lee seemed destined to be the kind of player who would be "so near, yet so far" with his record of losing matches narrowly when he appeared well on track. These few weeks, however, have seen a clear change of fortune for the shuttler whose latest feat is making the quarter finals of the Indonesia Open.
World's Best
He did this when he beat New Zealand's John Moody 18-21, 21-9, 21-16, taking his world ranking to top 20 for the first time. Earlier in the tournament held at Jakarta's Bung Karno Indoor Stadium, he defeated world No. 18 Dicky Palyama of Holland. And at last week's Aviva Open Singapore, the young Singaporean created a big upset when he beat one of the world's best, Chen Jin of China.
Towards Beijing?
With these wins, Kendrick has moved up 12 notches to No. 15 in the latest World Badminton Federation men's rankings, ahead of team mate Ronald Susilo, who is now world No 16. His string of good results are also a boost to his hope of earning a place in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as qualification points are at stake in the various tournaments.
Good Form
Up next for him in today's quarter-finals is world No. 6 Lee Chong Wei. His record is against him as he has lost to the Malaysian twice, at the 2005 All-England Championships as well as at last year's Taiwan Open. But he is hoping that his current good form can see him through. Meanwhile, in the women's doubles, Jiang Yanmei and Li Yujia beat Germany's Nicole Grether and Juliane Schenk 21-14, 21-23, 21-8 to remain in the running for honours.
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