Many may not have realized this, but the man who actually groomed Lee Chong Wei into a world beater was Li Mao.
And the Chinese coach, who severed ties with the Indonesian BA before the Olympics is in town negotiating a contract with a club, not KLRC.
Li Mao worked with Chong Wei after the latter was first identified by Morten Frost Hansen after which his skills were polished by the late Indra Gunawan.
It was Li Mao who then put the final touches to make Chong Wei a complete player before he left due to differences with BAM.
Li Mao arrived in Kuala Lumpur last week and is on the verge of signing a contract with the club, and what a boost for Independant players as thy can now seek his expertise.
The lesson learnt here is simple, unlike BAM who made such a big fanfare about resigning Park Joo Bong till it fell flat on their faces, as the Korean now stands accused of playing BAM, a club was more professional then the national body.
I had kept this news for the past week, hoping some badminton enthusiast will break the news, but this is a Christmas present to all.
Though yet to sign on the dotted line, Li Mao was said to have started training some players late last week.
