Zakry-Thien How fall meekly in Jakarta
Top News 5:22 PM
PETALING JAYA: Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Hoon Thien How failed to justify their selection for the World Championships after being sent packing in the first round of the Indonesian Open in Jakarta yesterday.
The world No. 28 pair of Zakry-Thien How couldn’t keep up with the world No. 8 ranked Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano, who were backed by a strong home crowd, and went down 15-21, 17-21 in 34 minutes.
And national doubles coach Rexy Mainaky was not too pleased with their performance, especially Zakry, who committed far too many unforced errors.
“They got off to a terribly slow start and committed a lot of unforced errors, in particular Zakry. By the time they recovered from their bad start, their opponents were already far ahead,” Rexy said in a telephone interview from Jakarta.
Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif: Committed far too many unforced errors Wednesday.
Despite the defeat, Rexy is confident that Zakry-Thien How can bounce back and make an impression at the world meet in Birmingham later in August.
“This is a Super Series Premier event and all the top players are competing. It’s just bad luck that they drew the home pair in the first round. There is still room for improvement though and I’m confident they will perform better in the World Championships.”
At least Zakry-Thien How can take consolation from the fact that the pair they replaced for the world meet, independent shuttlers Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen fared no better either, crashing 10-21, 19-21 to world No. 14 Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato of Japan.
Top women’s doubles pair Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty had to slog to get past the first round.
The duo, champions here in 2009, were made to toil by Denmark’s Line DamKjaer Kruse-Marie Roepke before prevailing 21-18, 24-22 in 36 minutes.
Eei Hui-Pei Tty will now face eighth seeds Duanganong Aroonkesorn-Kunchala Voravichitchaikul of Thailand in the second round in a bid to qualify for the quarter-finals and earn precious Olympic qualifying points.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 5:22 PM.
Filed under
