Men’s doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong (right)
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong (pic)-Tee Kai Wun will still head to the Australian Open starting Tuesday, but they stressed that their trip is not simply to boost their World Tour Finals ranking.
Wei Chong said he and his partner have their own mission in Sydney, and with the race for a Finals spot in Hangzhou this December tightening between them and independent pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, he hopes that the best pair will earn the right to represent Malaysia at the season finale.
At present, Wei Chong-Kai Wun sit third in the World Tour Finals standings with 84,350 points, while Sze Fei-Izzuddin are seventh with 72,770 points.
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are almost assured of qualification, leaving the remaining slot to be contested between the two pairs as each country can only send two pairs to the Finals.
Only the top eight pairs in the standings will qualify.
“I am quite excited because this is our first time being in the race. We are almost there, so it all depends on our performance. If their (Sze Fei-Izzuddin) performance is good, then they deserve to go.
“We are not thinking about whether they lose today or not. We have our own job to focus on in Australia. What matters is our own game,” said Wei Chong.
In Sydney next week, Wei Chong-Kai Wun will open their campaign against Taiwan’s Chiang Chien-wei-Wu Hsuan-yi in the first round.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun missed the chance to secure their spot in Hangzhou earlier after suffering a shock first-round exit at the Japan Masters this week to Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita.
Ironically, Sze Fei-Izzuddin have shone instead by advancing to the semi-finals, where they will meet the same Japanese pair today, and a place in the final will further tighten the race.
Wei Chong clarified that their defeat in Kumamoto was due to their below-par performance and not related to the foot injury his partner has been carrying.
“It could be that in Kumamoto, my performance just was not good enough. That is why we lost in the first round. What mattered was our own performance, and we did not perform well that day.
“The injury was there, maybe, but it was not the main reason for the defeat.
“It was not because of the injury. It was simply that our performance that day was not good,” he added.
