The real challenge begins

LEE Chong Wei's bid for the ultimate prize of them all - an Olympic gold medal - starts on Wednesday with a last-16 clash with Simon Santoso of Indonesia (9pm in Malaysia).

Though the records are in Chong Wei's favour - he holds a 7-1 lead over Santoso in their head-to-head, the Malaysian wasn't particularly impressive in his group stage win over Finland's Ville Lang on Monday, needing three games to seal his place in the last 16.

However, Chong Wei - despite the Olympics being his first tournament since the Thomas Cup Finals in May when he injured his ankle - shouldn't worry too much as he has the quality to send Santoso packing.

The only reason why Lang stretched Chong Wei to three games was the Malaysian's rush to win the match quickly and this resulted in him making numerous errors in the second game, which the Finn took advantage of to win.

Though Chong Wei is fearful that he could let Malaysia down, he must understand that the nation is behind him in his bid to end the long wait for Olympic gold.

A win on Wednesday will see Chong Wei playing the winner of the Niluka Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)-P. Kashyap (India) tie, a match made possible by the two slaying big names in the group stage.

Another win for Chong Wei in Thursday's quarter-finals should set him up with Chen Long, China's young pretender who is looking to take over Lin Dan's throne, in the semi-finals on Friday.

In the men's doubles, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong play Thai dangermen Bodin Isara-Maneepong Jongjit on Thursday and they will have to tread carefully.

However, the Malaysian pair have seemed confident- despite losing in straight games to South Korea's Chung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae in their final group match on Tuesday - and they should triumph, which is likely to mean a semi-final clash with reigning world champions and raging favourites Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng in Saturday's semi-finals.

FIXTURES

MEN'S SINGLES 

WEDNESDAY

Match 1: Lee Chong Wei v Simon Santoso (Ina) - 9pm
Match 2:  Niluka Karunaratne (Sri) v P. Kashyap (Ind) - 4pm
Match 3: Chen Long (Chn) v Wong Wing Ki (HK) - Thursday 12.05am
Match 4: Peter Gade (Den) v Son Wan Ho (Kor) - Thursday 12.05am
Match 5: Jan O Jorgensen (Den) v Lee Hyun Il (Kor) - 7.30pm
Match 6: Marc Zwiebler (Ger) v Chen Jin (Chn) - Thursday 12.45am
Match 7: Kevin Cordon (Gua) v Sho Sasaki (Jpn) - Thursday 1.30am
Match 8: Taufik Hidayat (Ina) v Lin Dan (Chn) - 4.45pm

(In Malaysian time)

THURSDAY

Quarter-finals
Q-final 1: Winner 1 v Winner 2
Q-final 2: Winner 3 v Winner 4
Q-final 3: Winner 5 v Winner 6
Q-final 4: Winner 7 v Winner 8

FRIDAY

Semi-finals
S-final 1: Winner Q-final 1 v Winner Q-final 2
S-final 2: Winner Q-final 3 v Winner Q-final 4

SUNDAY
Final

MEN'S DOUBLES

THURSDAY (Order of play to be decided)

Q-final 1: Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (Chn) v Chai Biao-Zhendong Guo (Chn)
Q-final 2:  Bodin Isara-Maneepong Jongjit (Tha) v Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong
Q-final 3: Fang Chieh Min-Lee Sheng Mu (Tai) v Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den)
Q-final 4: Mohammad Ahsan-Bona Septano (Ina) v Chung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae (Kor)

SATURDAY

Semi-finals
Winners Q-final 1 v Winners Q-final 2
Winners Q-final 3 v Winners Q-final 4

SUNDAY

Final