Malaysia must double the effort to catch up with Indonesia’s doubles
KUALA LUMPUR: Goh V Shem admits that Indonesia’s men’s doubles shuttlers are a class above the rest this season.
In the world’s top five standings, they have three pairs – world No. 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, Hendra Setiawan-Mohd Ahsan (third) and Fajar Alfian-Muhd Rian Ardianto (fifth).
V Shem, who is currently ranked 15th with Tan Wee Kiong, sees the Indonesians as their main hurdle at the World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, from Aug 19-25.
“The competition in the men’s doubles has always been very close but the Indonesians have stepped up their game this year,” said V Shem, who turned pro with Wee Kiong in January.
“Out of the three, Marcus-Kevin are quite exceptional. We really need to raise our game to beat them.”
The Rio Olympic Games silver medallists aim to qualify for the Tokyo Games next year but they have to improve on their world ranking to make the top-16 cut when the one-year qualifying period ends in April next year.
“All tournaments are important during the Olympic qualifying period. We are out of the Sudirman Cup, so the world meet is our most important tournament this year,” said V Shem.
The pair are preparing for the Australian Open from June 4-9 but are also keeping an eye on the actions in the Sudirman Cup which started in Nanning, China yesterday.
“China, Denmark and Japan also have good doubles players. We will monitor their matches,” added V Shem.
Yesterday, Marcus-Kevin gave their nation a flying start when they defeated England’s Marcus Ellis-Chris Langridge 21-9, 21-18 in a Group B tie.
Indonesia also won the next three points through Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (women’s singles), Anthony Ginting (men’s singles) and Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu (women’s doubles) before Praveen JordanMelati Daeva Oktavianti dropped a point in the mixed doubles.