Wan Wah expects Malaysians to do well in All-England
News 11:54 AM
KUALA LUMPUR: Professional doubles pair Lee Wan Wah-Choong Tan Fook will not make the trip to Birmingham for the All-England, which will be held from March 3-8.
But they are hoping that Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Mohd Fairuizizuan Mohd Tazari will be able to regain the title after a lapse of two years. Kien Keat-Boon Heong won the coveted title in 2007.
Wan Wah feels that the two pairs stand a good chance given the uncertainty over the condition of the other top doubles shuttlers.
Indonesia’s Olympic and world champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan are one of the favourites but Markis is nursing a knee injury.
All-England defending champions Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung are attending a one-month military camp in Seoul and may skip the All-England. Even if they do turn up, they may not be well prepared.
“These two pairs (the Indonesians and Koreans) are the favourites for the All-England title. But Markis has been struggling with his knee problem. He was not impressive in the first two tournaments this year (Opens in Malaysia and South Korea),” said Wan Wah.
“The Koreans are another tough nuts to crack but they may be ill-prepared too.”
Wan Wah, however, warned that the Danish pairs of Lars Passke-Jonas Rasmussen and Mathias Boe-Carsten Morgensen could turn out to be the spoilers.
“We always have to keep a lookout for the Danish pairs. This time Mathias-Carsten may be a threat because they have been playing well of late,” said Wan Wah.
Boe-Morgensen, the world No. 6, defeated Yong-dae-Jae-sung to win the Korean Open recently.
Although they will also miss out on the Swiss Open from March 10-15, Wan Wah is hoping that he and Tan Fook can still make the cut for the World Championships in India from Aug 10-16.
Tan Fook-Wan Wah are ranked seventh in the world.
“We do not have sufficient funds to go for tournaments in Europe. But we are still ranked within the top 24 and there is a chance we can make it to the world meet,” said Wan Wah.
Wan Wah-Tan Fook will compete in the India Open from March 24-29 and the Asian Badminton Championships in Seoul from April 7-12 to safeguard their world rankings.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 11:54 AM.
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