Paris, Oct 27 (IANS): World No. 1 badminton player Lee Chong Wei withdrew from the ongoing French Open due to a hamstring muscle injury.

The 34-year-old Malaysian shuttler was initially scheduled to play Chinese Taipei's Hsu Jen Hao in the first round of the men's singles on Wednesday evening before pulling out, reports Xinhua news agency.

Lee, who was expected to defend his title here, picked up the injury at last week's Denmark Open where the three-time Olympic silver medallist crashed out in the quarter-finals after losing to France's Brice Leverdez.

Hendrawan, the men's singles coach of Malaysian national team, thought it was a wise decision by the shuttler, with three tournaments remaining this year: China Open, Hong Kong Open and World Superseries Final in Dubai.

"We had already discussed about this on Tuesday but decided to wait and see how Chong Wei was coping," said the coach. "He was already having difficulties moving due to the injury and so we decided to pull him out.

"There is no point in pushing him to play as that could make things worst. He still has three more tournaments to go, it's best he focuses on them," he added.