Rosman names his two main pairs for Olympic qualification

KUALA LUMPUR: National women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak has started early by naming Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean and Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen as his two main pairs to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Mei Kuan-Meng Yean are currently ranked 19th in the world and are the country’s No. 1 pair while Vivian-Cheng Wen were the surprised champions of the Macau Open earlier this month – in only their seventh start together.

Ranked world No. 50, the pair stunned Japan’s world No. 30 Misato Aratama- Akane Watanabe to become the first Malaysian wom- en’s doubles winners in the tournament since its inception in 2006.

Vivian used to form the country’s No. 1 partnership with Woon Khe Wei but the latter has been sidelined indefinitely due to a knee injury.

The Olympic qualifying period starts in April next year but Rosman said he had no further plans to experiment with new pairings and intends to stick with the two pairsfor Olympic qualification.

Rosman had already earmarked the two pairs before the Macau Open.

“But we didn’t think VivianCheng Wen would perform so well in Macau, they still have to go through the processes as their part- nership is only three months old,” said Rosman.

“They are champions in Macau but there’s still room for improvement.

“I’ve decided Mei Kuan-Meng Yean and Vivian-Cheng Wen are the two pairs I’m targeting for the Olympics.”

Cheng Wen was happy to be given a chance to qualify for the Olympics.

“This is good news for Vivian and I. It’ll be tougher next year but hopefully we can break into the top 15 in the world and seal tickets for the Olympics,” said Cheng Wen.

Meanwhile, when asked about the presence of new Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Wong Choong Hann, Rosman hoped that the former world No. 1 could bring changes and new ideas to the national squad.

“All the coaches have received him with open arms. He has been involved in many things outside of badminton after his playing career, so I think there will be one or two new things he can add to our training system,” he said.

“Sometimes, when we work within our circle – there are things that we don’t see, so he can help see things from the outside.”