PETALING JAYA: The emotional goodbyes can wait.
Men’s doubles coach Tan Bin Shen (pic) is setting aside his emotions for now as he prepares to guide the likes of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik for one last outing in the Malaysian Open from Jan 7-12 in Bukit Jalil.
Bin Shen will leave his position as the men’s doubles head coach in the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after the home tourney to join Hong Kong and hopes to end on a high by guiding one of his pairs to the title.
Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah were the last Malaysian men’s doubles pair to win the home Open when they emerged champions in 2014.
Bin Shen is out to help end the long wait.
Besides world No. 6 Aaron-Wooi Yik, the other pairs under him competing in the tournament are world No. 14 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi (No. 23).
“It’s not just my hope but all my pairs also want to do well in the Malaysian Open,” said Bin Shen after overseeing a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“This will my last tournament as a coach in BAM and I am hoping for the best. I still have a job to do for now and when it’s finished, I might feel emotional.
“But for now, my focus is only on the competition. I’m sure Aaron-Wooi Yik, Wei Chong-Kai Wun and Roy King-Arif will go all out and fight hard. We will do our best and hopefully one of the pairs can win.”
In the draw released yesterday, Aaron-Wooi Yik will play Americans Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith in the first round while Wei Chong-Kai Wun will meet Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura.
Meanwhile, Roy King-Arif have a tougher opening hurdle against 2023 world champion Seo Seung-jae and his new partner Kim Won-ho.
The independent men’s pairs also in the fray for Malaysia are Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi and Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub.World No. 3 Sze Fei-Izzuddin will take on Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard in the first round while China’s Xie Haonan-Zeng Weihan stand in the way of Wee Kiong-Azriyn, who will be playing together in the tourney for the first time.
World No. 24 Yew Sin-Ee Yi face a difficult task against Indonesia’s world No. 4 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto.
