World champs Minhyuk-seung-jae eye quick rebound after recent hiccups

CHENGDU: South Korea’s Kang Min-hyuk-seo Seung-jae (pic) have warned their rivals that they will not stay down for long after experiencing a dip in form.

The reigning world champions in the men’s doubles started the year well by capturing the Indian Open and reaching the semi-finals of both the Malaysian and French Opens.

Min-hyuk-seung-jae, though, looked far from their best after that and surprisingly suffered back-toback first round exits in their last two outings in the All-england and Asian Championships.

The pair went down in straight games to China’s world No. 11 He Jiting-ren Xiangyu in Birmingham and world No. 15 national pair Goh Sze Fei-nur Izzuddin Rumsani in the Asian meet.

But Min-hyuk-seung-jae, who are currently competing in the Thomas Cup Finals in Chengdu, are confident that their disappointing recent performance will not last and are out to turn it around ahead of the Paris Olympics in July.

“We are trying to see where we are lacking in our previous matches and we want to play better in our next few tournaments,” said Min-hyuk.

“We still have about three months to go before the Olympics and we need to get back to our best form and try to avoid injuries.’’

For now, the Koreans’ sole focus is on helping their team go as far as possible in the Thomas Cup.

Min-hyuk-seung-jae played their part in South Korea’s easy 5-0 win over Canada in their opening Group A match at the Hi-tech Sports Center in Chengdu yesterday.

The pair were leading 21-8 and then were narrowly behind 6-7 against Adam Dong-nyl Yakura when the latter retired from the match due to injury.

The other points were won by second doubles pair Kim Won-ho-ki Dong-ju and singles players Jeon Hyeok-jin, Cho Geon-yeop and Woo Seung-hoon.

Min-hyuk-seung-jae believe that their team have a chance to spring a surprise in the tournament.

“Our team usually play well in team events and we believe that if each player does his part well and focus on getting points, there’s a good chance for us to go far,” said Min-hyuk.

“Our team spirit is strong and we want to do well here.”