PETALING JAYA: For men’s doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, it is a battle of the mind.
The pair know they must overcome a psychological barrier if they are to start changing their fortunes against Indonesia’s Sabar Gutama–Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun have found the Indonesian duo a tough nut to crack, losing six of their seven meetings so far - including their latest clash in the quarter-finals of the Indonesian Masters last week.
The world No. 6 Malaysians’ only win over the world No. 7 Indonesians came in their first encounter at the Indonesian Open in 2024.
Men's doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi said that Sabar-Moh hold a psychological edge over his charges which the latter need to overcome.
"I see that Sabar-Moh are more confident when facing Wei Chong-Kai Wun because of their superior head-to-head record while our pair are a bit anxious when they play against them," said Herry.
"When it comes to the game play and technique of the two pairs, there are not much that separates them. It’s just the mental aspect.
"We must do more video analysis of the pair and we need to discuss more on how we can improve the psychological side and raise our players' confidence.
"We have to work with the psychologist to come up with a solution."
The defeat to Sabar-Moh in Indonesia was Wei Chong-Kai Wun's third quarter-final exit in a row this year.
They also went down to South Korea's world No. 1 Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho and China's world No. 5 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang in the same stage of the Malaysian Open and Indian Open respectively.
"Wei Chong-Kai Wun's results so far this year have not been good enough. Pressure is always there but they need to be better prepared to handle this," said Herry.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun will be looking to do better when they compete next in the German Open from Feb 24-March 1 in Mulheim followed by the prestigious All-England from March 3-8 in Birmingham.
