PETALING JAYA: Replacing a successful partnership is never easy.
National doubles coach Rexy Mainaky has been trying to fill the void left behind by world champion Toh Ee Wei, who is currently in Australia nursing an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
The first attempt involved pairing Ee Wei’s partner Chen Tang Jie with Clarissa San. However, Tang Jie-Clarissa’s best result was a quarter-final finish at the Korean Open during their four tournament appearances together.
Rexy’s latest strategy involves partnering Tang Jie with Cheng Su Yin at the China Masters starting on Tuesday in Shenzhen.
It will be their first warm-up before the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya from Sept 19-Oct 4.
The duo have been given the mandate to shine at Asiad.
“Honestly, we should have given them (Tang Jie-Su Yin) more tournaments together,” said Rexy at Academy Badminton Malaysia yesterday.
Rexy attributed the duo’s inability to partner up prior to the Masters due to Su Yin’s usual partner, Jimmy Wong, requiring additional points with her.
“It would have been unfair to Jimmy,” he said.
However, with the upcoming Asiad looming on the horizon, the time crunch was not lost on Rexy.
“We will focus on further preparing the players for Japan after the China Masters,” he said.
“But Su Yin is experienced and we believe that will help the pair adapt quickly.”
In her partnership with Jimmy, the 23-year-old Su Yin had previously beaten world No. 1 Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping of China in straight games at the Singapore Open.
She will need to replicate that in her pairing with Tang Jie as they have a tough debut against China’s world No. 6 pairing of Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui in the first round of the China Masters.
