Growing in confidence
Yew Sin-Ee Yi continue good form by making main draw in Hong Kong
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi seem to be growing in confidence and strength.
The world No. 30 achieved a breakthrough last month when they won the Bitburger Open in Saarbrucken, Germany. The GP Gold title was their fourth of the year – and the biggest in their career so far.
Inspired, Yew Sin-Ee Yi continued their fine run of form to earn a spot in the main draw of the Hong Kong Open.
The national No. 2 first defeated Filipinos Ronel Estanislao-Paul Jefferson Vivas 21-9, 13-21, 21-16 before downing Indonesia’s Hantoro-Fernando Kurniawan 13-21, 21-11, 21-14 in the qualifying finals at the Hong Kong Coliseum yesterday.
The reward for Yew Sin-Ee Yi, who will compete in the main draw of a Superseries event for only the second time, is a clash against world No. 12 and fifth seeds Mads Conrad Petersen-Mads Pieler Kolding of Denmark.
“We didn’t play so well in our first match, so we just tried to keep a cool head for the second match,” said Yew Sin.
“We’re definitely feeling more confident with our game since winning in Germany ... hopefully, we’ll keep on improving, play well tomorrow and score an upset over our higher-ranked opponents.”
There was no such joy for Olympic mixed doubles silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying as they crashed out in the first round of the main draw for the second consecutive tournament.
Having lost the opening round of last week’s China Open, they suffered a similar fate yesterday – going down 12-21, 11-21 defeat to South Korea’s Yoo Yeon-seong-Chang Ye-na.
The Malaysian world No. 4 pair needed a strong showing in Hong Kong to confirm a place at the BWF World Superseries Finals in Dubai from Dec 14-18.