Valuable experience: Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen decided to train in Malaysia for two weeks after the Thailand Open last month. (Right): Soong Joo Ven. — AP
PETALING JAYA: National men’s singles shuttler Soong Joo Ven is confident that his one-week training stint with Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen could prove useful when the two clash in the first round of the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta today.
World No. 4 Tien-chen decided to train in Malaysia for two weeks after the Thailand Open last month.
“He trained with me for a week and with Lee Zii Jia for another week. After that, he flew to Indonesia for this tournament,” said Joo Ven.
Joo Ven, who had to go through two qualifying rounds yesterday to get to the tournament proper, is hoping to use what he learnt while sparring with Tien-chen in the match today.
“I definitely learnt a lot while training with Tien-chen. I was really impressed with his never-say-die attitude and his positivity. The training sessions will not just help me in today’s match but also in my future tournaments and my career,” explained Joo Ven, who is currently ranked 59th in the world.
The 27-year-old had to work hard to overcome India’s Kartikey Kumar 21-16, 9-21, 21-14 in the first qualifying round yesterday.
He had an easier time in the second qualifying round against Ade Dwicahyo of Azerbaijan, winning 21-15, 21-11 in 33 minutes.
Besides his match against Tien-chen, Joo Ven will also be playing in the mixed doubles with Goh Liu Ying and will face compatriots Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See.
In the men’s doubles, there will be another all-Malaysian match in the first round as independent pair Tan Wee Kiong-Tan Kian Meng are set to meet world No. 6 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.
Wee Kiong-Kian Meng needed only 27 minutes to sweep aside home pair Berry Angriawan-Rian Agung 21-10, 21-11 in the qualifying round yesterday.
Debutants Mohd Haikal Nazri-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi failed to join them in the tournament proper when they went down 15-21, 16-21 to China’s Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang.
Another pair Nur Azriyn Ayub-Lim Khim Wah lost in the first round when they were outlasted by Singapore’s Terry Hee-Loh Kean Hean 21-14, 15-21, 17-21.
