PETALING JAYA: Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi’s decision to skip the Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam has possibly given the professionals sufficient time to recover from injury before embarking on a crucial European tour which begins with the German Open in Mulheim today.
Ee Yi has been struggling with a knee injury which he sustained during the Australian Open last year and due to the hectic Olympic qualifying race, he was unable to completely recover from the injury.
Their coach Rosman Razak said Ee Yi had used the last three weeks to recover and was optimistic the break has helped them to refocus their attention on the Olympic Games qualifying again.
The duo are currently ranked world No. 13 and have to break into the top eight by the end of April if they wish to join world No. 5 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in Paris.
“We decided to skip the Asian meet to give Ee Yi ample time to recover from his injury and he looks positive but I’ve to wait and see at the German Open,” said Rosman.
“The first thing for them (Yew Sin and Ee Yi) is to be free of injuries and if they can do that, the performance will definitely improve.”
Yew Sin-Ee Yi start as the top seeds in the German Open and could go all the way to the title if they can take advantage of the top pairs’ absence in Mulheim.
It can be achieved if they can overcome the likes of Taiwan pairs Lu Ching-yau-Yang Po-han and Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan and China pair He Ji-ting-Ren Xiangyu of China. Their first round opponents are Eloi Adams-Leo Rossi of France.
The title should give them a headstart before heading for the French Open in Paris (Mar 5-10) and All-England in Birmingham (Mar 12-17).
Meanwhile, world No. 16 mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie will be on a similar mission to use the next four to five tournaments to break into the top 10 again.
Soon Huat-Shevon play India’s Ashith Surya-Amrutha Pramuthesh, must overcome their their likely battles against Commonwealth Games champions Terry Hee-Jessica Tan of Singapore and Rehan Naufal-Lisa Ayu of Indonesia enroute to the semi-finals.
Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing have a tricky first round encounter against Gregory Mairs-Jenny Mairs of England and a victory will pit them against Rinov Rivaldi-Pitha Hanningtyas of Indonesia.
Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien also have a rare chance of reaching the final as there are no top 10 pairs in their half of the draw,
In the men’s singles, Ng Tze Yong’s withdrawal due to injury has left independent shuttler Cheam June Wei as the only Malaysian, who will start from the qualifying draw.
