PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun may have enjoyed different fortunes if they had played with better self-belief in the final of the Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland.
National director of coaching Rexy Mainaky said Wei Chong-Kai Wun panicked in the title-match and lost 18-21, 17-21 to Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in just 39 minutes on Sunday.
Rexy was hoping to see strong resilience and in fact, the former Indonesian Olympic champion felt that the young Malaysian pair had the chance to win their first super 500 title.
He said that the pair did not play with conviction and hardly followed the game plan to surrender tamely to Astrup-Rasmussen.
“They need to have more self belief if they want to win a (super 500) title. There was so much of hesitation, especially Kai Wun, and unforced errors,” said Rexy.
“There was no flow of plan in executing their attacking game and their defence was so predictable and it was clear they panicked in the final.
“However, reaching a second super 500 final should give them more motivation but they also need to take their chances well.”
The Arctic Open was world No. 23 Wei Chong-Kai Wun’s third final this year following the Malaysian Masters, where the finished runners-up, but won the super 300 Taiwan Open in June.
Wei Chong, 24, and Kai Wun, 23, will next switch their focus to the Denmark Open which begins in Odense today but the competition will be tougher with most of the top 10 pairs competing in the super 750 event.
They will have a tough first-round match against Japan’s Akira Koga-Taichi Saito and an even more difficult match-up against either Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India in the second round.
Rexy will also be looking for better performance from a jaded Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik who lost to Wei Chong-Kai Wun in the first round.
They will play Christo Popov-Toma junior Popov of France in the first round and could meet Indonesian veterans Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan in the second.
“It will be the fourth week of competition for Aaron-Wooi Yik after playing in the Asian Games. Wooi Yik struggled with a bit of fatigue but should be fresh after a few days of rest in Finland,” said Rexy. “I hope to see Aaron-Wooi Yik back in good shape and perform better.”
Independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi made it to the last eight in the Arctic Open but an opener against Satwiksairaj-Chirag will not be easy at the Denmark Open.
Mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, who lost in the semi-finals last week, should overcome Denmark’s Mathias Thyrri-Amalie Magelund in their opening match.
