Great outing: Pang Ron (right) and Mei Xing in action during last week’s Malaysian International Challenge where they ended up triumphant. — BAM
PETALING JAYA: National mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron-Teoh Mei Xing are out to make the most of the opportunity presented to them after narrowly making the cut for the Malaysian Open from Jan 10-15 at the Axiata Arena.
Pang Ron-Mei Xing, who had only been paired up a month ago, managed to qualify for the home tourney after the withdrawal of India’s Ishaan Bhatnagar-Tanisha Crasto.
“I feel very grateful to get the chance to compete in this tournament with Pang Ron. We just want to enjoy our game and play our best,” said Mei Xing.
The pair are looking to build on a promising start to their partnership.
In only their second tournament together, Pang Ron-Mei Xing captured the lower-tier Malaysian International Challenge title in Ipoh a week ago.
The duo, who are currently ranked No. 169 in the world, are set to face a much tougher challenge in the home Open when they start their campaign against Japan’s world No. 14 Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya.
If they can pull off a win, Pang Ron-Mei Xing will be pitted against either world No. 7 Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France or Indonesia’s world No. 11 Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas in the second round.
Despite the daunting task ahead, Pang Ron-Mei Xing are determined to keep the focus on their own game.
“We don’t want to think too much about who we will face. We just want to go out there and give our all on court,” said Mei Xing.
Besides Pang Ron-Mei Xing, the other home pairs in the fray are Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
Meanwhile, Mei Xing is looking forward to training under new national mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto.
“I’m so excited to train under coach Nova. I hope I can learn a lot from him and improve under his guidance,” said Mei Xing.
