Zakry-Hoon pull off upset win on coach Rexy’s birthday

PETALING JAYA: Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Hoon Thien How (pic) served a pleasant birthday surprise for men’s doubles coach Rexy Mainaky by pulling off a first upset win in a year in the first round of the All-England badminton championships in Birmingham yesterday.
Zakry-Thien How, who came through from the qualifying tournament, went on the offensive to stun seventh seeds Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu 21-14, 21-19 in just 27 minutes.
It was a sweet revenge for the Malaysians, who lost to the Taiwanese in the China Open last year. It was also their first win over a seeded pair in a tournament since they forged a partnership last year.
Zakry was pleased with their breakthrough yesterday.
“This is our best win against a highly ranked pair. We are very happy and it happened on Rexy’s birthday,” he said in a telephone interview.
“The odds were against us but we are delighted to get the better of this strong pair after losing easily to them in China last year.”
Zakry-Hoon, ranked 51st in the world, made it to the main draw with straight-game wins over Holland’s Ruud Bosch-Koen Ridder and Thailand’s Patiphat Chalardchaleam-Nipitphon Puangpuapech on Tuesday.
“We do not want to be satisfied with this one big win,” said Zakry.
“We hope to keep the momentum going.”
Zakry-Thien Hoon will take on the winners of the match between their younger compatriots, Mak Hee Chun-Tan Wee Kiong, and Japanese Endo Hiroyuki-Kenichi Hayakawa in the second round.
Besides Zakry-Thien Hoon, another Malaysian pair, Chan Peng Soon-Lim Khim Wah, also made it through from the qualifying tournament.
They scored a hard-fought win over Indonesians Angga Pratama-Ryan Agung Saputra and easily defeated Frenchmen Baptiste Careme-Sylvain Grosjean to earn a first-round match against fourth seeds Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.
But another elite pair, Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Ong Soon Hock, failed to add extra joy for Rexy yesterday. They were beaten 10-21, 21-19, 14-21 by Indonesians Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano in 46 minutes to become the first Malaysian pair to bite the dust.
The other Malaysian pairs in action yesterday were, Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen and 2007 champions Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong.
Rexy, who turned 43-years-old, said that he hoped that the pairs would rise to the occasion in Birmingham after under-par performances over the last two months.
“The victory by Zakry-Thien How has made me happy on my birthday. And I hope that this joy will last for a week.
“I hope Zakry-Thien How will continue to show their strong determination to play well,” he said.
> QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT
* Matches involving Malaysians
■ MEN’S DOUBLES
First round: Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Hoon Thien How bt Ruud Bosch-Koen Ridder (Ned) 21-13, 21-16; Chan Peng Soon-Lim Khim Wah bt Angga Pratama-Ryan Agung Saputra (In) 21-16, 29-27.
Second round: Peng Soon-Khim Wah bt Baptiste Careme-Sylvain Grosjean (Fra) 21-18, 21-17; Zakry-Thien How bt Patipat Chalardchalem-Nipitphon Puangpuapech (Tha) 21-14, 21-11.
■ MIXED DOUBLES
First round: Liao Min-chun-Chen Hsiao-huan (Tpe) bt Ong Jian Guo-Chong Sook Chin 23-21, 21-11.
>TOURNAMENT PROPER
■ FIRST ROUND
Men’s singles: Bao Chunlai (Chn) bt Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) 21-10, 21-6; Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) bt Simon Santoso (Ina) 21-19, 21-15; Lee Hyun-il (Kor) bt Joachim Persson (Den) 21-13, 21-13; Lee Hyun-il (Kor) bt Hu Yun (Hkg) 21-14, 21-15;
Kenichi Tago (Jpn) bt Wacha Przemyslaw (Pol) 21-12, 21-19; Wang Zhengming (Chn) bt Park Sung-hwan (Kor) 21-17, 21-17; Chen Long (Chn) bt Shon Wan-ho (Kor) 21-10, 21-10; Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) bt Anand Pawar (Ind) 21-16, 21-18.
Women’s singles: Wang Xin (Chn) bt Wong Mew Choo (Mas) 21-16, 21-16.
Men’s doubles: Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) bt Hong Wei-Shen Ye (Chn) 18-21, 21-9, 21-12; Mads Conrad-Petersen-Jonas Rasmussen (Den) bt Marcus Ellis-Peter Mills (Eng) 21-6, 21-10; Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Hoon Thien How (Mas) bt Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu (Tpe) 21-14, 21-19; Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato (Jpn) bt Hendri Kurniawan Saputra-Chayut Triyachart (Tha) 21-17, 21-11;
Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yon-dae (Kor) bt Chris Adcock-Andrew Ellis (Eng) 24-22, 13-21, 21-13; Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) bt Kim Ki-jung-Kim Sa-rang (Kor) 21-5, 21-12; Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano (Ina) bt Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Ong Soon Hock (Mas) 21-10, 19-21, 21-14.
Mixed doubles: Tantowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) bt Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) 21-12, 7-21, 21-19.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 9:57 AM. Filed under Latest News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0