KUALA LUMPUR: There are no home shuttlers in the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open for the second consecutive year and this has to end.
It’s painful to accept the fact that we have again failed.
There have not been any winners since Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s feat in 2018 and no men’s doubles winners for the last 10 years since Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah’s achievement in 2014.
Passionate home fans came in big numbers to support the local stars with the hope of seeing home winners at this year’s edition at Axiata Arena but they ended up watching the dominant show of players from South Korea, China, Denmark and even India.
The only local who took centrestage was coach Jeremy Gan as his players Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino became the first Japanese pair to win the mixed doubles title at the Malaysian Open when they upstaged Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun of South Korea in the final.
Denmark’s world No. 1 and two-time Malaysian Open winner Viktor Axelsen seemed to have some answers for Malaysia’s lack of sting and offered some words of wisdom to Ng Tze Yong and Lee Zii Jia.
When asked whether it was their lack of physical prowess, he said: “In every high-level sport, the physical aspect is really important.
“We are playing physical chess on court, so you need to master everything,” added Axelsen, who lost in the semi-finals to China’s Shi Yuqi.
Tze Yong sadly was forced to retire in the first round against Japan’s Koki Watanabe after pulling out with a back injury while professional Zii Jia could not get past China’s Lu Guangzu in his opening match.
Only men’s doubles pairs Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi made it into the last eight before losing to South Korea’s reigning world champions Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae and Japan’s 2021 world title winners Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi respectively.
Aaron-Wooi Yik often saved Malaysia’s blushes in the past few years but could not finish the job against Min-hyuk-Seung-jae after winning the first game 21-16, losing the next two 18-21, 13-21.
Hopes were also high on mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei to build on a promising year but they suffered a disappointing defeat to Japan’s second ranked pair Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito in the second round.
National No. 1 women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah lost out to China’s eventual champions Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning in the first round.
It was Pearly-Thinaah’s second straight opening round exit in the tournament.
So is it the pressure to perform at home that has kept our players from delivering the goods?
Moving forward, national coaching director Rexy Mainaky, who apologised for the disappointing performances of his charges, has vowed to work harder for the next tournaments.
“The players need to give everything to do better in their next tournaments,” said Rexy.
“Every step is not easy and they need to challenge themselves to rise above the challenges.”
With the Paris Olympics coming up in July, the players need to improve fast or forget about winning a medal.
