Wee Kiong-V Shem vow to step up in Sudirman Cup after recent slump

KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttlers Tan Wee Kiong-Goh V Shem have promised to step up to the plate at the Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast, Australia, from May 21-28.

After going through a rough patch this season, Wee Kiong-V Shem have made some changes in their game to give a better account of themselves in the world mixed team event.

Said Wee Kiong: “We’ve watched videos of our matches from the past tournaments over the last two weeks. We’ve been too predictable.

“We’ve added more variety and tried out different strokes. It’s not easy to change immediately but we’re working on it.”

After winning the Olympic silver medal as well as the Denmark Open and World Superseries Finals in 2016, world No. 4 Wee Kiong-V Shem have yet to go beyond the quarter-finals in any tournaments this year.

“We’ve not performed well but our conditions are much better now. There were minor injury issues but it’s all settled now.”

Wee Kiong, who is looking forward to his second Sudirman Cup outing, says that the team event brings out the best in them.

“V Shem and I did well in our first Sudirman Cup two years ago. We’re all fired up. The team can count on us to put up another strong showing,” he said.

In the 2015 edition in Dongguan, China, V Shem-Wee Kiong played superbly to upset world No. 1 Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong to inspire Malaysia to a 3-2 victory in a Group D tie.

But in the quarter-finals, V Shem-Wee Kiong were out of sorts against the same pair and Malaysia lost 3-1.

“We hope to go beyond the quarter-finals this time,” added Wee Kiong.

Malaysia, whose best result was reaching the semi-finals in 2009, are in Group C with Japan and Germany. They face Germany in their first match on May 23.

Top seeds and defending champions China, who are gunning for their 11th title, are in Group A with Thailand and Hong Kong.

Besides V Shem-Wee Kiong, the others in the team are Lee Chong Wei, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin (men’s singles), Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (men’s doubles); Goh Jin Wei and Soniia Cheah (women’s singles); Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei and Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean (women’s doubles) and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, Chan Peng Soon and Cheah Yee See (mixed doubles).