PETALING JAYA: The body and mind may be tired but trust doubles shuttler Ong Yew Sin to fight all the way.
The 28-year-old Yew Sin and his faithful partner Teo Ee Yi are not in the ideal position in their road to the Olympics Games in Paris next year due to a lack of strong results but they are saving their best to end the year on a creditable note.
The world No. 12 will open their campaign against compatriots Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun in the first round of the Japan Masters in Kumamoto today.
They have lost to the younger pair in the semi-finals of the Taiwan Open in June this year.
They will also compete in the China Masters next week. And if they go far in these tournaments, they can try to move up into the top eight and try to qualify for the World Tour Finals in China. Currently, they are in the 10th spot.
Yew Sin was honest enough to admit that they have some catching up to do.
“We’ve not achieved good results lately but we have been motivating ourselves to fix our focus on what’s ahead,” said Yew Sin.
“We’ve competed in many tournaments this year but we have no choice as we are chasing for Olympic qualifying points.
“If we get good results, we can then play in fewer tournaments.
The duo have competed in 23 tournaments this year and have reached the quarter-finals in at least 10 tournaments and their best was finishing as the runners-up at the Asian Championships in Dubai.
Yew Sin, however, is glad that they are not far from making the top eight in the world ranking as their points are quite close.
“The only positive thing is that we are not left far behind yet,” he said.
One of the reasons that has slowed them down a little was injuries. Ee Yi was affected by a foot injury while Yew Sin had his own issues.
“I also had some injuries too but I’m better now, nothing serious. Ee Yi still has some discomfort with his leg … but I think he is fine,” he said.
“We’ve never gone beyond the quarters in Japan. It’s quite cold here but we are ready to give our best.”
The winners of the match between Yew Sin-Ee Yi and Wei Chong-Kai Wun will likely meet China’s Chen Boyang-Liu Yi in the second round. The biggest challenge will probably be in the quarter-finals against top seeds and Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India.
The other pair in the fray are former world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who have been drawn to play against Olympic Games champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin of Taiwan in the first round.
2023-11-13 23:04:10
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