No letting up: Man Wei Chong (left) and Tee Kai Wun hope to turn things around when they head back home to compete in the Malaysian Masters next.
PETALING JAYA: Some shuttlers take a longer time to adapt to a new coach and men’s doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are no exception.
Yesterday, the duo who have been training under coach Herry Iman Pierngadi since February, suffered their fourth early round defeat in an international tournament after going down in the second round of the Thailand Open yesterday.
They were sent packing 21-15, 19-21, 18-21 by Denmark’s world No. 75 William Kryger-Christian Faust at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok yesterday.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun also lost in the early rounds of the Orleans Masters, All-England and Asian Championships.
Despite showing signs of progress earlier in the year after capturing the Indonesian Masters title and reaching the semi-finals in the Malaysian Open in January before the arrival of Herry, Wei Chong admitted that they were battling with inconsistency.
“Our coach (Herry) has given us some good advice but it will probably take some time for us to get used to his training methods,” said Wei Chong.
“We believe that it will get better for us though in the future.”
Losing to a lower ranked pair is a big blow but Wei Chong took it in his stride.
“We didn’t prepare well enough to face this pair.
“Some of their shots were tricky and we were caught off guard,” Kai Wun lamented in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“This is our first outing in this venue ... the shuttle was fast and we could not control well.
“Europeans and Asians play different styles and our opponents played well today (yesterday) while our performances are still not consistent,” he added.
The world No. 7 Wei Chong-Kai Wun however hoped to turn things around when they head back home to compete in the Malaysian Masters next.
National No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik had earlier survived a close battle to book their spot in the second round after world No. 56 Fench pair Julien Maio-William Villeger before using their experience to prevail 22-24, 21-19, 21-15 in 62 minutes.
The reigning Asian champions will face Japan’s world No. 36 Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita next for a place in the last eight.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian pair Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi booked their spot in the quarter-finals after overpowering younger teammates Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing 21-11, 21-11. Roy King-Arif will next take on either Aaron-Wooi Yik or Midorikawa-Yamashita.
Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi bt Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing 21-11, 21-11.
