Eyeing Danish delight
China Open exploits will stand Ong and Teo in good stead
Men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi is hoping for a fruitful outing when they take to the courts in the Denmark Open next week. The world No. 21 is hoping to continue with the momentum that carried them into the quarter-finals of the China Open last month, after upsetting world No. 8 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the second round.
KUALA LUMPUR: Revitalised doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi are gunning for another strong outing at the Denmark Open next week (Oct 15-20).
The world No. 21 played some of their best badminton of the year when they stepped into the quarter-finals of the China Open last month.
In their opening match, they took out South Korea’s world No. 26 Kim Gi-jung-Lee Yong-dae before creating an upset against world No. 8 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the second round.
However, they fell to former world champions and world No. 3 Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen of China but not after giving them a scare by forcing their fancied opponents into a third game.
“Our performance in China has given us a lot of confidence and we hope to carry that momentum to Denmark,” said Ee Yi.
“I think our form has always been there but we seemed to end up playing against strong opponents in the early rounds.
“I realised that we always put up a good fight but lose out in the last few points, so we are working on it with our coach and hopefully we can win more of these close fights.”
Unfortunately for them, they will be up against familiar foes in Denmark.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi take on teammates and world No. 14 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the opening round and then a potential clash against their seniors and world No. 10 Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong awaits.
At the Japan Open in July, they were also drawn against with Aaron-Wooi Yik in the first round. At the World Championships they played against V Shem-Wee Kiong in the second round and also the first round of the Korean Open last month.
“It’s really not the best of draw for all three pairs as only one of us can make it into the quarter-finals.”
Meanwhile, the pair remained optimistic that they can catch up with their compatriots in the race to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
A country can only send a maximum of two pairs to Japan, provided both are in the top eight of the world rankings at the end of the Olympic qualification period in April next year.
Former great and Olympic doubles silver medallist Cheah Soon Kit had said that it will be good if Yew Sin-Ee Yi and Aaron-Wooi Yik can make the cut as the experience there will stand them in good stead for the future.
“What he (Soon Kit) said is certainly a boost for us and in terms of ranking points we are not too far away from V Shem-Wee Kiong, so I think we can catch up on them.”