Gopichand impressed with Lee's comeback and says he will be tough to beat at Olympics

THE NATIONAL CHIEF coach of badminton in India, Pullela Gopichand is impressed with former World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, who made a strong comeback in the sport after serving a doping ban and also hailed him as one of the toughest contenders for Gold medal in this year's Rio Olympics. 

The 33-year-old star shuttler was banned for eight months in April last year for a doping violation after traces of a banned substance was found in his system. 

But that did not stop him as he made a brilliant comeback into the international circuit with victories at the US Open, Canada Open, French Open, China Open and also grabbed the Silver at World Championships. 

"He has been an amazing sportsperson. He has highest quality fitness, concentration and a great ambassador of the sports. It's unfortunate whatever happened to him but that created a window, wherein a few other players benefitted. He has always been strong. He had his problems against a few top players in the world (from China) but other than that, he has ruled the world badminton in the last few years," Gopichand said.

"He will be someone who will be really difficult to beat because of his pure speed and sting in his strokes that makes him very very effective." 

Gopichand also added that one cannot rule out the chances of China's Lin Dan and Cheng Long, both of whom had troubled Lee for the better part of his career. The current World No 5 had lost to Lin Dan at Olympics final twice. 

"I have a great lot of respect for someone like Cheng Long. He is a fantastic individual, with whatever he has he maximizes it. He goes back and comes back very strongly in terms of his physical and mental preparations. So I wouldn't rule out somebody like Cheng Long ever," he said.

At the moment though, Lee is having a tough time in the ongoing PBL after losing two consecutive matches.