Zakry hopes for a double delight in Johor Baru
News, Zakry 9:11 AM
PETALING JAYA: Doubles shuttler Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif hopes to play his cards right to keep alive a hope of two Malaysian pairs in the semi-finals of the Super Series Masters Finals.
Zakry-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari have been drawn in Group A with team-mates Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, China’s Guo Zhengdong-Xu Chen and Indonesians Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki-Rian Sukmawan.
On current form, defending champions Kien Keat-Boon Heong have a good chance to top the group.
The duo emerged as champions in the Denmark Open in October and went on to finish as the runners-up in the tournaments in France and China.
In Group B are South Koreans Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung, England’s Anthony Clark-Nathan Robertson, Denmark’s Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen and Indonesians Alven Yulianto-Hendra Gunawan.
Only the top two pairs in each group qualify for the semi-finals.
Zakry hopes to come good in the Masters Finals after struggling to find his footing with Fai-ruzizuan in the last few tournaments since a semi-final appearance in this year’s world championships in India in August.
“It will be great if both the Malaysian pairs can make the semi-finals,” said Zakry.
“We skipped the recent China Open and had a good two weeks of training. Hopefully, this will help us to give a strong performance in the Masters Finals.
“We have not played against the China pair and we will treat them with great caution. We have a reasonably good chance against Yonathan-Rian.”
Zakry and Fairuzizuan made it into the Finals — thanks to the withdrawal of several qualifiers for the eight-pair competition. They were ranked 11th in the standings after 12 legs of the Super Series circuit.
“It was a stroke of good fortune for us. We do not want to waste this chance. We have not reached a final of any international tournament this year. It will be a bonus if we can pull it off here,” said Zakry.
Malaysia will also be banking on Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty to retain the women’s doubles title in the absence of the top pairs from China and South Korea.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 9:11 AM.
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