Back in the limelight

Third time lucky: Yew Sin (left) was dropped for the 2018 Thomas Cup Finals but his partner Ee Yi was given the nod.

PETALING JAYA: Independent doubles shuttler Ong Yew Sin is thrilled over the chance to finally play a prominent role in the Thomas Cup Finals after being sidelined twice.

Yew Sin and his partner Teo Ee Yi were named for the Finals in Aarhus, Denmark, from Oct 3-11, together with Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM)’s top two pairs – world No. 9 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and No. 28 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani.

Based on the world rankings, world No. 14 Yew Sin-Ee Yi will be playing as the second doubles.

A relieved Yew Sin, who was dropped from the national squad in January, has promised to justify the selection.

“It has always been my dream to play in the Thomas Cup Finals and finally, I’ll get to do so with my partner, ” said Yew Sin.

Yew Sin was sore with BAM’s decision in 2018 when they named Ee Yi but not him for the Finals in Bangkok, Thailand.

In a surprise move, BAM replaced him with Mohd Arif Abdul Latif, who eventually did not play a big role in the competition.

Yew Sin and Ee Yi were also named in the squad for the 2016 edition in Kunshan, China but they did not get to play at all.

The 25-year-old Yew Sin almost did not make it this year too when he injured his left knee after reporting for training since the movement control order was relaxed in June.

“I had to stop training for two weeks and could not walk. The tendon was inflamed. Fortunately, nothing was fractured or broken, ” said Yew Sin.

“I’ve been back in training and slowly picking up the pace. I hope to be ready as we have a big responsibility ahead of us, ” he said.

As the second doubles, Yew Sin is familiar with their expected opponents from Indonesia, Denmark, South Korea and China although these teams have yet to finalise their players for the Denmark trip.

“Indonesia will probably have the strongest doubles cast. They’ve four good pairs in their stable and any one of them will pose a challenge, ” said Yew Sin.

“China too have formidable pairs. There is a change in Denmark as some of their older players have left but we should not underestimate their lower ranked players. As for South Korea, it all depends whether they bring along their independent pairs.

“Our standard is not too far off... we hope to rise to the occasion and give everyone a good challenge, ” added Yew Sin, who together with Ee Yi are the reigning Thailand Masters champions.

Malaysia are in Group A with Indonesia, England and Holland. The top two teams will advance to the elimination round.