Duo out to improve ranking in India
PETALING JAYA: National women’s doubles pair Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen stand a good chance to join teammates Chow Mei KuanLee Meng Yean in the world top 20 when they compete in the Indian Open in New Delhi today.
The world No. 22 , who were paired up in July last year, are hoping to capitalise on the absence of top pairs in the meet by reaching at least the quarter-final to make it into top 20.
Vivian-Cheng Wen are seeded fourth while the top three seeds are world No. 5 Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia, Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (No. 10) and Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean (No. 17).
The Macau Open champions Vivian-Cheng Wen will open their campaign against American Emily Kan-Isabel Zhong and should go all the way to the quarters where they are expected to face Indonesia’s Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani-Rizki Amelia Pradipta.
Vivian said they have plenty to prove after failing to impress in all their first four appearances this year.
They have not gone past the last 16 and suffered a first-round defeat in their last outing at the German Open earlier this month.
“We’ve struggled to do well in the last few tournaments because we’re not up to the mark. We did our best but still find winning matches hard to come by,” said Vivian, who will also compete in the Malaysian Open from April 2-7.
“But we’re doing everything we can to get better. After three weeks of training, we’re glad to be back competing. We’ve been working doubly hard to improve our personal strength and abilities. It’s time to put it to test.
“These tournaments (Indian and Malaysian Opens) will be important to us as we look to regain our confidence before the Olympic qualifying period commences (in May).”
The others in the fray are Goh Giap Chin (men’s singles); Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong, Arif Abdul Latif-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub, Chooi Kah Ming-Low Juan Shen and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (men’s doubles); Mei Kuan-Meng Yean (women’s doubles).