It’s no go for Goh and Tan
DOUBLES pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong failed to end Malaysia’s four-year wait for a men’s doubles title after losing in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open.
They bowed out 21-9, 21-17 in 36 minutes to sixth seeds Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda of Japan – just a day after dumping world champions Zhang Nan-Li Yinhui of China in the second round.
The Malaysian pair got off to a sluggish start in the opening game but did well to find their rhythm but it was too late to overcome the fired up Japanese.
Takeshi-Keigo took their chances well with solid play to win the semi-final ticket against He Jiting-Tan Qiang of China. The unseeded Chinese pair stole the show yesterday when they blew away top seeds and world No. 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia 21-17, 21-11 in just 30 minutes.
Wee Kiong blamed their defeat on their poor start.
“I felt we were slow to get into the game, like there was no strength to play today,” said Wee Kiong.
“When we finally got going, it was too late.”
V Shem, who last won the Malaysian Open title with Lim Khim Wah in 2014, said they could not keep up to the speed of the Japanese.
“They were quite fast, so we couldn’t find our rhythm and they went on the attack mode from the start.”
Ironically, the last time V ShemWee Kiong won a title was at the 2016 World Superseries Finals in Dubai when they defeated the same Japanese pair.
When asked on the two-year drought, Wee Kiong said: “We’ll never give up, this is our target. We are disappointed but we have to keep believing,” said Wee Kiong, who will compete in next week’s Indonesian Open.