Who will stand up as Malaysia’s finest once World No.1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei moves over?

He's nowhere near retirement as far as we can officially tell, but it's been a worrying issue for ardent Malaysian badminton fans who adore their World No.1 shuttler and have enjoyed the privilege of supporting him over the years.

Lee Chong Wei is a rare and magnificent talent. One that's never easy to come by no matter what part of the world you might be from. Which has its pros and cons; great that we have him, not so great when he retires.

Media reports and Chong Wei himself have hinted at his possibly retirement. Some say he might call it a day after the 2012 Olympics, some say he might do so after the World Championships next year.

Speculation aside, the inevitable fact is that, one day, not too long from now, Chong Wei will have to hang up his racquet and will no longer be available for us to throw our support behind.

When this does happen, the onus would then turn to another Malaysian shuttler to pick up the torch as Malaysia's finest. The problem seems to be however, that there really doesn't appear to be another Chong Wei in our midst, is there?

The obvious potential torch carriers for now seem to be Darren Liew (World No.28) and Hafiz Hashim (World No.32) to front the line.

But with the Malaysian team failing to make it into the now all-Indonesian Axiata Cup finals after a beating from the Indonesian players, it's hard to see our nation securing too many trophies without our No.1 Lee Chong Wei on board.

Looking at our typical opponents, they seem to have their futures a little more sorted out than we do at the moment. With Taufik Hidayat already in his prime, the younger Simon Santoso already seems to be proving his worth on the world stage.

At 28, Lin Dan is still within his prime playing years, but China's future seems well taken care of with the awesome duo of Chen Jin (23) and Chen Long (26) already fighting for top honours at every tournament they participate in.

Worrying isn't it? That after Chong Wei, the next Malaysian in the BWF rankings, is Darren Liew, at No.28. And that he's just been beaten by Indonesian hotshot Simon Santoso in the Axiata Cup semis. And let's not even start with the Taufik Hidayat vs. Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif match.

Right now, it really does seem like the day Chong Wei retires will be as devastating as doomsday, not just for Malaysian badminton fans, but for the entire nation.

Or do you believe that one of our young shuttlers is just around the corner of being able to take on and beat the likes of Lin Dan, Chen Long, Chen Jin, Taufik Hidayat and Simon Santoso?