PETALING JAYA: The effects of ankle surgeries continue to haunt Indonesian doubles ace Marcus Fernaldi.
And it saw him being forced to withdraw from the Malaysian Open and the Malaysian Masters with his partner Kevin Sanjaya.
The world No. 1 pair will also not compete in the Singapore Open from July 12-17. Marcus, who had underwent a surgery to remove bone growth in both his ankles in April, has yet to fully recover from the injury.
Kevin-Markus are the top seeds in the Malaysian Open which begins at the Axiata Arena on Tuesday.
The duo played in the Indonesian Masters where they lost in the semi-finals and crashed out in the last 16 of the Indonesia Open over the last two weeks.
Indonesia’s men’s doubles coach Harry Ippe said Marcus needed more time to make complete recovery from the surgeries.
“It will take time for him to recover fully. If they continue to play now, they will start losing easily to their opponents. The competition in the men’s doubles is very stiff,” said Harry.
“Their main focus is the World Championships and they should concentrate on the preparation for the tournament.”
The World Championships will be held in Tokyo from Aug 21-28.
Also out are another Indonesian pair Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan as the latter suffered an injury during the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Open.
Their withdrawals have paved the way for Malaysian pairs Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kiong and Wan Ariff Wan Junaidi-Haikal Nazri to be promoted to the main draw.
