Badminton star Lee Chong Wei will miss the World Championships in August after dropping down the rankings following a prolonged absence due to cancer. This means the Malaysian former world number one loses the chance to win the world title for the first time, and deals another blow to his fading hopes of competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Lee — currently ranked 113 in the world — would not play in the championships in Switzerland from August 19-25 as he currently does not qualify on merit. A country can send a maximum of two players who are inside the world top 150 and there are two Malaysians currently above Lee — Lee Zii Jia and Liew Daren.
The priority for Chong Wei now is for him to recover from his ailments. The triple Olympic silver medalist has been out since July last year when he was diagnosed with early-stage nose cancer.
The 36-year-old endured a tough treatment programme in Taiwan but opted not to retire and resumed training in January. He skipped the All England Open in March and the Malaysia Open in April — both tournaments where he had hoped to make a comeback — and will also miss this month’s Sudirman Cup mixed-team event in China.
