SUPERSERIES FINALS 2013 – Venue named, Chong Wei ‘still discussing’

Nearly six months after word first surfaced that the season-ending Superseries Finals would be hosted by Kuala Lumpur, a venue has finally been chosen.  The Badminton World Federation (BWF) website now lists the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium as the site of the 2013 event.  Much smaller than the Bukit Jalil venue of the Malaysia Open, the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium on Jalan Cheras is an intimate arena that has seen its share of top-level badminton over the years, most recently at the Axiata Cup this past spring.

The Superseries Finals this year will be without superstar Lin Dan, of course, but it may actually lack any of the Olympic singles finalists.  Li Xuerui and Wang Yihan are both currently outside of the top eight in the Superseries standings, though they will qualify if they do well in the last two events, the China and Hong Kong Opens.

Meanwhile, Malaysian star Lee Chong Wei, who is firmly atop the men’s singles standings for the Superseries, had said publicly that he was planning to take December off.  He did hedge slightly in a recent interview with Badzine following his quarter-final win at last week’s French Open, saying that they were ‘still discussing’ but he stressed that he was concerned about injuries since this season he has been playing so many tournaments and not training adequately.  He added that it was difficult because the Finals are in Malaysia this year but he is also keen to be properly prepared for the Korea and Malaysia Opens, which will begin the 2014 season less than a month after the $500,000 season-ender.

In doubles, the men’s and women’s Olympic gold medallists are also out of the running to be in the Superseries top 8, while the Finals may sustain another hit due to its scheduling conflict with the biennial Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar.