Good start: Malaysia's mixed doubles shuttlers Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin hope to forget a miserable 2025. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles shuttlers Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel after a disappointing 2025.
Pang Ron-Su Yin struggled for consistency last year but showed encouraging signs of returning to their best form in the ongoing Malaysian Open.
The world No. 21 pair stunned Denmark’s world No. 12 Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje in the first round before going down fighting to teammates and reigning world champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei in the second round at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil on Thursday.
The duo believe that they are slowly regaining their confidence after a tough year and hope to build on their momentum in the next tournaments.
"We are getting more confident after our performance in this tournament. We are slowly getting back our rhythm and momentum," said Pang Ron.
"I feel our performance was alright but there are still lots to improve, so we need to keep working hard."
The 27-year-old Pang Ron also said that injuries disrupted the duo’s rhythm last year and hoped to avoid similar issues this year.
Su Yin, 22, suffered two separate ankle injuries last year which kept the pair out of several tournaments.
"I hope both of us can stay injury-free as last year was not the best for us," said Pang Ron.
Pang Ron-Su Yin’s best outing to date was in the China Masters in 2024 where they finished runners-up to China’s world No. 1 Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping.
The pair will compete in the Indian Open next Tuesday in New Delhi.
Pang Ron-Su Yin have a difficult opening task against Thailand’s world No. 3 Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran.
