For a third year, Ireland’s Scott Evans will face the world No 1 in a major tournament when he faces Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei in the opening round of the World Badminton in China on Monday next August 5.
Facing the world number 1 three times in a row doesn’t faze the Dubliner. ‘I don’t have a problem with it, though I would prefer to play Lin Dan again if it had to be either him or Lee Chong Wei.
‘I will travel to China and prepare just like for any other tournament. I think the biggest challenge will be jet lag. ”
Evans admits that he has struggled since competing at his second Olympics and its important for me to get a good sleep the first night.
If I do that, then I won’t have any problems and I will give it everything I have.”
‘I did have a tough time after London. It was totally different than Beijing so I felt it harder to deal with. I didn’t really take any time off either which maybe was not a good idea. But after a poor performance at the games, I wanted to get straight back into working on my game.’
Initially, the strategy worked when he became the first Irishman to win the singles title at the Irish Open in Baldoyle and followed that up with victory in the Cyprus International. It meant Evans was picked for a Europe selection playing in a prestigious international All Stars tournament in Asia earlier this summer, where injury struck. He is adamant however that the break has done him good.
“I have trained extremely hard and have been working on lot of new things in my game which I will use as much as possible again Lee Chong Wei.”
Keep up to date with all the latest news from China on the Badminton Ireland Facebook and Twitter pages for results.
