Zakry-Fairuz face moment of truth in Basel

PETALING JAYA: It is time for redemption for Malaysia’s doub­les shuttlers, especially Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzi­zuan Mohd Tazari, in the Swiss Open, which begins today in Basel.

Zakry-Fairuzizuan are returning to competition after being dropped from the squad to the just concluded All-England in Birmingham for having dished out poor performances in tournaments. But unfortunately for them, they will be up against a fired up Mathias Boe-Cartsen Mogensen.

The Danes will be out to keep their momentum going after enjoying a high at the All-England in which they showed great form to finish as runners-up to compatriots Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen after a cliff-hanging final match that lasted 90 minutes.

If Fairuzizuan-Zakry can pull the carpet from under the Danes, they will immediately be considered for selection without a shadow of a doubt in the squad for the Thomas Cup Finals, which will be played at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from May 9-16.

National doubles chief coach Rexy Mainaky said it would be a moment of truth for the beleaguered Fairuzizuan-Zakry.

“They have had longer time to train at home and it is for them to show what they had done to improve,” he said.

“The Danes are on fire now and I hope that Fairuzizuan-Zakry will play with the same spirit. A win will be good but what I want to see is a great fight from them.”

As for defending champions Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, they are expected to make a quick rebound after losing in the opening match at the All-England last week.

They will take on Denmark’s Kasper Faust Hendriksen-Anders Kristiansen and are in the same half of the draw as England’s Nathan Robertson-Anthony Clark, Zakry-Fairuzizuan, Boe-Carsten, former internationals Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen and China’s Guo Zhendong-Xu Chen.

In the other half with second seeds Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae of South Korea are China’s Cai Yun-Fi Haifeng and Indonesians Markis Kido-Hen­dra Setiawan.

In the women’s doubles, Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty have a good chance to make up for a disappointing first-round exit at the All-England.

In the same half as Indians Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa, South Koreans Ha Jung-eun-Lee Kyung-won and Japanese Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna, the top Malaysian pair should be able to reach the semi-finals.

Lurking dangerously in the other half of the draw are China’s scratch pairs Du Jing-Pan Pan and Yu Yang-Qing Tian. Du Jing-Yu Yang are the original pair and they emerged as champions at the All-England.

No Malaysian will be in the men’s singles fray following the decision by reigning All-England champion Lee Chong Wei to skip the tournament. Malaysia will also not be represented in the women’s singles event.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 9:17 AM. Filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0