One foreign player in the men's singles competition of the World Championships has done exceptionally well in tournaments in Malaysia

And national singles coach Misbun Sidek sees the danger posed by Dane Peter Gade-Christensen, who is in the same quarter of the draw as Malaysian number one and second seed Lee Chong Wei.

Gade-Christensen has not been prominent in recent international tournaments but Misbun still remains cautious.

“From his past performances here, I cannot help but think that Malaysia is like second home to Peter. He has done well and his challenge to win the world title in Bukit Jalil cannot be taken lightly,” said Misbun.

“But on recent form, Chong Wei is more stable than Peter. But Chong Wei can be his own enemy by taking things lightly during a game. I hope he will remain as focused as he is right now throughout the tournament.”

Before a projected quarter-final encounter, Chong Wei and world number six Gade-Christensen have in their path Indonesians opponents – Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso respectively.

The 30-year-old Dane arrived in Kuala Lumpur early this year for the Malaysian Open suffering a severe migraine attack but he went home with the title. And it was the second time he won the title at the KL Badminton Stadium in Chera after 998.

Seven years ago at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil, which is the venue for the world championships, he sparked a great hope for Denmark to become the first European country to lift the Thomas Cup after he defeated Indonesian Hendrawan in the first match of the final tie. Denmark eventually went down 2-3.

The lanky Dane also won his first world junior title, the boys' doubles partnering Peder Nissen, in 1995 in KL.

The 25-year-old Chong Wei is wary of the major threat posed by Gade-Christensen.

“I still remember the defeat in a match against him at the Thomas Cup Finals (in Japan in 2006). It was the first match of the tie and we went on to lose to Denmark. I have always treated him as one of my very strong opponent,” he said.

In their previous two meetings in Open tournaments, Chong Wei was the winner in Malaysia and Singapore in 2004.

But Gade-Christensen has the better record than Chong Wei in the world championships.

The Dane was the runner-up to Hendrawan in Seville in 2001 while Chong Wei's best effort was a semi-final appearance in the 2005 edition in Anaheim.

Copyright © 2007 Star Online.