2014 doubles winner Khim Wah still has much left in the tank at 33

Blast from the past: Lim Khim Wah (right) in action with Goh V Shem at the 2014 Malaysian Open where they emerged champions.

THE return of Lim Khim Wah has added more spice to the men’s doubles competition.

The 33-year-old Khim Wah will play three more tournaments with Nur Azriyn Ayub before resuming his partnership with Goh V Shem at the Taiwan Open next month.

Khim Wah-V Shem were the last men’s doubles champions in the Malaysian Open eight years ago.

“A few of us, veterans of the game, are still trying to be relevant. We are banking on our experience to give the younger pairs a run for their money,” said Khim Wah.

Khim Wah is from the same batch with all the other 33-year-old independent shuttlers – V Shem, Tan Wee Kiong and mixed doubles player Goh Liu Ying.

“We’re still passionate about the sport and it’s hard to stay away from it,” he said.

Partnering V Shem has given him another source of motivation to prolong his career.

“I’ve not played against many new pairs of this era and I’m looking forward to meeting them,” he said.

“I may have two to three years more and I hope to make the best use of the time. I hope to end well with Azriyn and start afresh with V Shem and see how far we can take our game together once again.’’

In the Malaysian Open, Khim Wah-Azriyn are drawn to play Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand in the first round. The duo will also play in next week’s Malaysian Masters and Singapore Open.

Azriyn-Khim Wah have played together since the start of this year and together, they won the Odisha Open in Cuttack, India, in January.

The other Malaysian pairs in the fray are Wee Kiong-Tan Kian Meng, Yap Roy King-Chang Yee Jun, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Junaidi Arif-Wan Mohd Haikal, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, V Shem-Low Juan Shen, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Boon Xin Yuan-Wong Tien Ci.

“The men’s doubles competition is quite open now. You keep seeing different men’s doubles champions. The standard is quite close and probably, that’s why I’ve decided to keep playing.

‘‘Who knows, I could be lucky to win something too.”

Khim Wah left the Badminton Association of Malaysia in 2015 after a rather successful partnership with V Shem, which saw them winning the 2014 Malaysian Open title.

He then teamed up with different partners – Hoon Thien How, Ong Jian Guo, South Korea’s Yoo Yeon-seong and India’s Kona Tarun.

His best result as an independent pair was finishing as the runners-up at the Taiwan Grand Prix in 2015.