"Chong Wei knows what he is doing" - Khairy

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin believes that any decision made by national badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei would be for his own good.

He believes Chong Wei would make the best decisions for the sake of his future and his aim to contribute the country's first gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August.

"I feel Chong Wei knows what he is doing. And we will ensure the best preparation for Chong Wei before he goes to the Olympics," he told reporters after handing over the Jalur Gemilang to the national contingent for the ASEAN Para Games in Singapore from Dec 3 to 9.

He was asked to comment on fears that the former world number one who had won three titles on the trot may have peaked too early and that his performance would drop at the Olympics in August next year.

"Surely, we are not going to think like that. If Chong Wei loses, we criticise him. If he wins, we say Chong Wei peaked too early," he said.

In fact, his success was regarded all the more sweet since he had beaten two of his traditional rivals, namely, Lin Dan and Chen Long from China in the China Open recently.

The 33-year-old player jumped to third in the Badminton World Federation ranking from sixth position after emerging victorious in the Hong Kong Open, last week, behind Chen Long, who is still number one, followed by Danish player, Jan O Jorgensen.

It was said that Chong Wei would be facing a hectic schedule in the first three months of next year in his effort to achieve the top four position in the world to enable him to get an easier path at the 2016 Olympic Games.

The former world number one must at least occupy the fourth ranking to avoid a confrontation with Chen Long and Lin Dan in the early rounds.

Meanwhile, Khairy said a 'Command and Control' monitoring committee would discuss the programmes planned for young sprinter Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap who has emerged as the country's most promising prospect in track and field.

Badrul smashed the 17-year-old National 100m record of 10.30s held by Sarawak’s Watson Nyambek when he clocked 10.29s in the boys 100m dash at the track and field event of the 7th Asean Schools Games at the Tutong Sports Complex in Brunei.

He later went on to claim the title of ASEAN Schools' undisputed sprint king by winning the 200m as well and anchored the 4x100m team to the gold medal.

The 4x100m quartet comprising Badrul Hisyam, Mohd Haiqal Hanafi, Asnawi Hashim and Khairul Hafiz Jantan were also in superb form to clock 39.86s and shave 6.7s off the old record of 46.56s held by Thailand since 2009.