Another early exit: Tan Kian Meng (right) and Lai Pei Jing (left) in action against South Korea’s Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun in the first round. The Malaysians lost 11-21, 16-21. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: Experiencing a loss of sponsorships can be demoralising for independent shuttlers, but Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing are determined not to allow that to be a stumbling block to keep their professional career going.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing, who started last season with a No. 5 world ranking, had a disappointing year after early-round exits in 20 out of 23 tournaments that they participated in.
With a series of inconsistent performances, Kian Meng-Pei Jing slipped to the 25th spot in the latest world rankings, were dropped from the Road to Gold (RTG) programme and lost all of their sponsorships except for Victor.
Pei Jing, however, does not have any hard feelings about the situation and wants to focus on elevating their game.
“As you can see, there are no logos on our jerseys, which means we don’t have any other sponsors,” said the 31-year-old Pei Jing.“However, it is understandable because our results were very bad last year and everyone wants a win-win situation.
“I have always believed that we will attract sponsors once we achieve good and consistent results.
“If we always lose in the early rounds, our presence will not be widely acknowledged, so there’s not much that we can do about it.
“Our main priority now is to focus on our game and find a way to improve the consistency of our performance.
“Disappointing our coaches, fans, and ourselves by excelling in one tournament but performing poorly in the next is something we want to avoid.”
Kian Meng-Pei Jing could not kick off the year on a positive note after losing 11-21, 16-21 to South Korea’s world No. 7 Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun in the opening round of the Malaysian Open at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
After dropping the first game, Kian Meng-Pei Jing made a strong start in the second game, establishing an 11-5 lead but could not maintain their momentum after the South Korean pair changed their game style.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing triumphed over Won-ho-Na-eun in their last meeting at the Japan Masters last November.
“Actually, I felt fresh and very excited for today’s (yesterday’s) game, but unfortunately, it was not the performance and result that I imagined,” said Pei Jing, who is aiming to bounce back stronger in the Indian Open starting next Tuesday.
“They (Won-ho-Na-eun) changed their game and I was quite surprised with it in the first game.
“We tried to overcome it but maybe because of the pressure and I can’t think clearly... there are many factors that led to our loss.
“This defeat has affected our goal to qualify for the Paris Olympics (this year), but we don’t want to think too much about it as our focus is trying our best to return to the top level first.”
Meanwhile, another independent pair and world No. 15 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie delivered good news as they navigated through their first round after beating England’s world No. 36 Gregory Mairs and Jenny Mairs 21-16, 15-21, 21-17.
Soon Huat-Shevon made a few mistakes in the second set but managed to overcome that by supporting each other and regaining control of the match.
“We supported each other throughout the match despite falling behind and I think this was the part where we did well,” said Shevon.
“We managed to stage a comeback because we could control the game well, especially in the third game.
“Our opponents (Gregory-Jenny) played with confidence, so we didn’t want to hold back.
“We wanted to push forward, so we are braver in regaining control of the game.”
