Malaysian badminton ace Lee Chong Wei is “recovering positively” from his treatment in Taiwan for nose cancer, a sports official said on Friday.
However, the former world No. 1 was continuing his treatment and would not be returning home soon, Badminton Association of Malaysia president Norza Zakaria said.
“Lee is recovering positively from his treatment in Taiwan,” he said. “He will stay in Taiwan and continue with the treatment. Lee will come back when he completes his treatment.”
Norza said he was in close contact with Lee, 35, and rejected news reports saying that Lee would return to Malaysia today.
A sports official familiar with the situation said that Lee is undergoing proton therapy, in which the cancer is targeted with a beam of protons.
Last month, the association announced that the three-time Olympic silver medalist was diagnosed with early-stage nose cancer.
The association had in July announced that Lee was suffering from a respiratory-related disorder and was pulling out of the World Championships and Asian Games.
Lee is one of Malaysia’s top sports stars after carving out a long run of success at badminton’s highest levels, despite his failure to win a world or Olympic title.
He is currently ranked fifth in the world, after fighting his way back to prominence following his return from a doping ban in 2015.
Lee tested positive for a banned anti-inflammatory drug at the 2014 World Championships.
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