Lee to skip exhibition badminton match

The Malaysian’s sudden change of heart was to avoid any conflict with the Badminton World Federation for breaching its rules, sources said.

Lee, who arrived in Bangkok yesterday for the friendly with the Chinese super star, decided to withdraw from the event after he saw a post on the Badminton Association of Thailand’s facebook, quoting BWF secretary general Thomas Lund that “a short technical skill session can, of course, be with a player feeding Lee Chong Wei”.

Lee, who was suspended by the BWF last month after failing a dope test at the World Championships in Copenhagen in August, regarded the post as unsupportive action by the Thai badminton body, prompting him to pull out of the exhibition, according to tournament organiser Jane Piyatat. Thai No 1 Boonsak Polsana will replace Lee in today’s match at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium.