No letting up: Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi are out to push their world ranking to qualify for the Olympics.
PETALING JAYA: Independent men doubles shuttlers Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi are contented with what they have achieved so far.
If people think that way, then, it’s a huge misconception, stressed their coach Rosman Razak.
The independent pair, pushing hard to qualify for the Olympics, have reached at least the quarter-finals or higher in seven of the 10 Badminton World Federation (BWF) tour events.
Their only final appearance this year was at the Asian Championships in Dubai in April where they lost to Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
Rosman said that world No. 6 Yew Sin-Ee Yi have always wanted to win titles but they are part of the top men’s doubles pack who are involved in fierce competition where pairs outside the top 10 have the quality to win titles.
“Yew Sin-Ee Yi’s aim is of course to push their world ranking as high as they can to make sure they qualify for the Olympics. It is important for them to remain in the top eight when the qualifying period ends at the end of April next year,” said Rosman.
“But they have never compromised on winning the titles.
“There is no such thing as just targeting quarter-finals or the semi-finals to stay within the qualifying zone but they are always aiming higher despite the tight competition.
“Any pair in the top 20 can win tour tournaments in the super 500 or above. That is the quality of the current scene.
“If you talk about 10 or 15 years ago, it is rare to see a top five pair lose in the first round but it is happening regularly now.
“We don’t see any particular pair dominating by winning so many titles in a year.
“World No. 1 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto (of Indonesia) have won two titles this year but they are at the top because of consistency.
“I’m happy with Yew Sin-Ee Yi’s consistency this year but more importantly, they must also keep improving their performance where they are able to compete at the highest level every time they play.”
Yew Sin-Ee Yi will be out to raise the bar when they get back into the competitive mode in South Korea (July 18-23), Japan (July 25-30) and Australia (Aug 1-6).
They are expected to play either Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani or Ren Xiangyu-Tan Qiang of China in the second round and a possible quarter-final clash against Fajar-Rian.
“They should get past the first round but the battle is on from the second round onwards. This is going to be the scenario in every tournament,” added Rosman.
“The intensity is so high that Yew Sin-Ee Yi can be beaten if their performance dips below 90%.
“The stakes are high but they also want to add a title to boost their motivation.”
BAM pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, ranked world No 23, demonstrated the unpredictable nature of the men’s doubles scene as they beat top seeded Yew Sin-Ee Yi in the semi-finals to win the Taiwan Open last month.
Consistency alone is not going to take Yew Sin-Ee Yi across the finish line and some top quality results will do a world of good to their careers too.
