For any professional badminton shuttler, winning the prestigious All-England Open title would be the pinnacle of his career.In the world of badminton, there is a saying that "you can win as many international titles as you can but without the All-England, all other titles are nothing."With that in mind, in the quest of becoming the 'best of the best', a national player making waves in the international scene, like Malaysia number one singles player Datuk Lee Chong Wei, knows that winning the All-England would be the peak of his career.Throughout his eight years playing badminton, Chong Wei has won numerous international titles with handsome monetary gains, with the highest title being a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics last year.But, the national shuttler has never won the All-England.Unlike his nearest rival, Lin Dan of China, who is currently ranked world no 2, and has won three All-England titles (2004, 2006 & 2007), two Badminton World Federation championships titles (2006 & 2007), and a Beijing Olympics gold medal (2008).Age is catching up, as Chong Wei celebrates his 27th birthday in October. Hence, the newly-appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador must take advantage of his current performance and rank to wrest the coveted All-England title.Should the Penangite win the much sought-after title, this colourful feat would put Chong Wei on par with two national badminton figures who had won the All-England title before.Muhammad Hafiz Hashim won the title in 2003, while the best feat was displayed by the legendary Eddy Choong Ewe Beng -- four-time men's singles champion -- in 1953, 1954, 1956 & 1957 and three-time men's doubles champion after pairing up with his brother, David Ewe Choong -- 1951, 1952 & 1953.In the 99th edition of the All-England Super Series Open to be held in Birmingham from March 3-8, Chong Wei has been drawn in the top-half and faces unknown Chinese player Lu Yi in the opening round and either Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana or Marc Zwiebler from Germany in the second round.Barring any upset, the 26-year-old is expected to meet world no 5 Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the quarter-finals and his nemesis, China's Chen Jin, the defending champion, in the semi-finals.Chen Jin, the world no 3, beat Chong Wei 18-21, 18-21 in straight sets in the quarter-finals last year and went on to beat Lin Dan 22-20, 25-23 in the final to clinch the title.Meanwhile, world no 2 and second seed Lin Dan, drawn in the bottom half, has not played any competitive tournament since the Olympics in August.The Chinese shuttler has apparently been undergoing 'army style' training since the Olympics and did not compete in the Masters Super Series Grand Finals in Kota Kinabalu (December), Malaysian Open in January and the Korean Open, also in January.Apart from Chong Wei, Wong Choong Hann, Sairul Amar Ayob and Lee Tsuen Seng have been listed for the men's singles while Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (2007 All-England men's doubles winners), Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif/Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari and Gan Teik Chai/Tan Bin Shen are down to compete in the men's doubles.Julia Wong Pei Xian is the only women's singles player listed, as Wong Mew Choo is injured while Chin Wei Hui/Wong Pei Tty shoulder the women's doubles challenge.Two back-up squad pairs, Haw Chiou Hwee/Lim Pek Siah and Goh Liu Ying/Ng Hui Lin play in the women's doubles qualifying rounds.Missing from the list was former champion Hafiz whose form has never been the same since that magnificent feat in 2003. Bernama
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