PETALING JAYA: The race to qualify for the season ending World Tour Finals from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou is set to go down the wire and men’s doubles coach Tan Bin Shen has urged Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun to keep their foot on the gas to make the cut.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun have a good chance to book their spot for the first time in the prestigious tourney as they are currently seventh in the Race to Hangzhou rankings but need to remain in the top eight to qualify.
The pair have to do well in the back-to-back Japan Masters (Nov 12-17) and China Masters (Nov 19-24) to seal their place and Bin Shen does not want his charges to let go of this opportunity.
“Wei Chong-Kai Wun need to reach the semi-finals in both the tournaments in Japan and China to be assured of making the cut for the Tour Finals,” said Bin Shen,
“Anything less and they will have to rely on the other pairs’ results which is not ideal.”
Another Malaysian pair, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are currently third in the Race to Hangzhou rankings and are already assured of a spot in the Tour Finals.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun, who are currently ranked No. 14 in the world, have started to find some consistency over the past few months but Bin Shen wants even more from his charges.
The pair made it into the last eight in four of their last six tournaments but have not managed to reach the semi-finals or beyond since finishing runners-up in the Indonesian Open in June.
“Their game is still not as solid as it was in the Indonesian Open. After the Paris Olympics (in August), many top pairs have been struggling to play their best and Wei Chong-Kai Wun should take advantage of this and do better,” said Bin Shen.
“They need to be more consistent during the crucial stages in matches. They can get points easily but also tend to lose points just as easily.
‘‘They still lack the confidence to beat the top pairs and they need to improve on this.”
Wei Chong-Kai Wun will have to be on top of their game in the Japan Masters as they are likely to go up against China’s world No. 1 and Denmark Open champions Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang as early as the second round.
Before that, the former will face French brothers and Hylo Open semi-finalists Toma Junior Popov and Christo Popov in their opening match and should beat the latter.
Meanwhile, the other Malaysians in the fray in the men’s doubles are national No. 1 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Sze Fei-Izzuddin, Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian, Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi and Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub.
