Soon Kit opts to see positives despite setbacks

PETALING JAYA: National coach Cheah Soon Kit prefers to look on the bright side despite watching his men’s doubles challenge being wiped out early for the third time in a row at the China Open.

Tan Wee Kiong-Ong Yew Sin went down 16-21, 14-21 to fifth seeds Zhang Nan-Liu Cheng of China in the second round at the Haixia Olympic Sports Centre in Fuzhou yesterday.

Goh V Shem-Teo Ee Yi had gone down fighting to fourth seeds Li Junhui- Liu Yuchen of China in the opening round on Wednesday.

The China Open is Wee Kiong-Yew Sin and V Shem-Wee Kiong’s third international outing. They had also failed to make an impact at the French Open in Paris and the Bitburger Open in Germany last month.

Soon Kit said that he saw improvements in his charges’ performances despite their defeats.

“V Shem-Ee Yi played well but still have lots of areas to improve on. It’s the same for Wee Kiong-Yew Sin. Both pairs need more time,” said Soon Kit.

“I’m just happy that they’ve been getting chances to play against top pairs in these tournaments. It gives me a good platform to see what we need to correct and improve on.

“I admit that it’s still too early to say whether these two pairs will go far.

“Right now, what they need is to start believing that they are good enough to beat the top players and win titles. Once they do that, everything else will fall into place.”

Soon Kit now hopes to see better showing from them at the Hong Kong Open in Kowloon next week.

The unseeded V Shem-Ee Yi have been drawn to meet top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon- Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia while Wee Kiong-Yew Sin will face eighth seeds Lee Jhe-huei-Lee-yang of Taiwan in the first round on Wednesday.