The gloves are off
Coach Kim Hock urges his players to beat national shuttlers
ULU KINTA: Former international Yap Kim Hock has thrown down a challenge to his club players: beat the national shuttlers.
The Petaling Badminton Club (PBC) coach wants his charges, especially men’s doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Man Wei Chong, to step up to the plate at the RM270,000 National Championships.
Tang Jie-Wei Chong played key roles in helping Malaysia to a silver in the mixed team event at the World Junior Championships in Spain last year.
Yesterday, Tang Jie-Wei Chong moved a step closer to reaching the main draw of the national meet after a hard-fought 21-17, 14-21, 23-21 win over the Johor-Malacca combination of Haw Yong Yuan-Lim Chen Wet in the second round of the qualifying tournament.
The PBC shuttlers will be up against the Kelantan-Selangor pairing of Ahmad Maziri Mazlan-Izzat Farhan Azhar next.
Win that and they will face Selangor’s Lee Jian Yi-Lim Zhen Ting in the first round of the tournament proper tomorrow.
“Our goal is to expose them in senior tournaments this year. After this local tournament, they will compete in the Poland, France and Finland International Challenge (fourth-tier tournaments),” said Kim Hock, a former Olympic silver medallist.
“They have shown their potential at the world juniors. I want them to upset the BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia) players here.”
BAM are fielding scratch pairs Tan Wee Kiong-Ong Yew Sin, Goh V Shem-Teo Ee Yi, Nur Izzuddin Rumsani- Goh Sze Fei, Chooi Kah Ming-Low Juan Shen in the national meet.
The other PBC players competing here are Ian Wong Shern-Kwek Yi Jian and Shia Chun Kang-Chen Jia Huo (both men’s doubles); and three mixed doubles pairs – Chun Kang-Yap Rui Chen, Tang Jie-Tew Jia Jia and Jia Huo-Yap Yee.
Last year, in the absence of Olympic silver medallists V Shem-Wee Kiong, national back-up pair Ee Yi-Yew Sin defeated Izzuddin-Sze Fei for the men’s doubles crown.
“The BAM players have improved. They have a few promising back-up pairs to support V Shem-Wee Kiong. But the club players are not too far behind in terms of standard. I’m looking forward to an exciting time in this tournament,” said Kim Hock.