KUALA LUMPUR: National doubles shuttler Lim Khim Wah knows that his service is his weak point but he is not about to let it dampen his spirit ahead of the Thomas Cup Finals.
Khim Wah and Goh V Shem did well to lift the men’s doubles title in the Malaysian Open in January. However, they have been struggling for form since.
And one of the factors has been Khim Wah’s shaky service.
But the 24-year-old Khim Wah prefers to stay positive ahead of the Finals in New Delhi from May 18-25.
“There have been several different men’s doubles champions in the last five Superseries tournaments. The men’s doubles is very open. All of us are going through ups and downs,” said Khim Wah.
The other Superseries men’s doubles winners this year have included Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark (Korean Open and Indian Open), Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia (All-England) and Cai Yun-Lu Kai of China (Singapore Open).
“I’m confident I can improve with better service. V Shem and I have a few more weeks to brush up on our skills and movement on court,” said Khim Wah.
The world No. 14 Khim Wah-V Shem are set to play as the second men’s doubles pair for the country in the Thomas Cup.
The first pair will be world No. 7 Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong but, with Tan Boon Heong also in the fray, the coaches may take a gamble by mixing up the pairs.
Khim Wah feels that Malaysia have an equal chance against all the teams, including South Korea who are known for their doubles prowess.
Malaysia are in Group C with South Korea, India and Germany.
In fact, South Korea’s prospects for the Finals received a huge boost when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) lifted the one-year suspension of Lee Yong-dae and Kim Ki-jung early this year.
With that, South Korea will have a formidable line up – with world No. 4 Kim Sa-rang-Ki-jung as the top pair and world No. 9 Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong as the second combination.
But Khim Wah is not fazed as he still remembers how he and V Shem beat Yong-dae-Shin Baek-cheol in the Thomas Cup qualifying tournament two years ago. Khim Wah represented Malaysia at the Finals in Wuhan, China, two years ago but did not play in any of the ties.
“It’s something about the team event that brings out the best in V Shem and I. We can beat any of the top pairs on a good day. For now, we’ll just focus on improving our game,” said Khim Wah.
Malaysia’s Thomas and Uber Cup teams will begin centralised training camp at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara from May 4-13.
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