PETALING JAYA: Chen Tang Jie-Cheng Su Yin remain confident of their prospects at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games despite suffering a first round defeat in their first competitive outing together at the China Masters.
The newly formed mixed doubles pair went down 14-21, 19-21 to China’s Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui in their opening match at the Shenzhen Arena yesterday.
With the Asian Games from Sept 19-Oct 4 less than 16 days away, the defeat leaves them with little time to work on the areas that need improvement.
Su Yin, however, was not too concerned with their performance and believes they still have time to make the necessary adjustments.
“I think it’s not bad. We still have a lot of things to improve on,” said Su Yin in a post-match interview with BWF.
Tang Jie also felt there were encouraging signs despite the defeat, although he admitted being too eager to finish off rallies had cost them at crucial moments.
“Just try to communicate and find the rhythm that we have. Today, I was too rushed, especially in the final two shots.
“Right now, I can’t think of any positive takeaways from the match. We’ve already lost, but I could see there were opportunities for us to win. I just need to identify where the problems are,” said Tang Jie.
Meanwhile, Su Yin’s former partner Hoo Pang Ron made a winning start with new partner Lai Pei Jing yesterday. Pang Ron-Pei Jing overcame Hong Kong’s Chan Yin Chak-Ng Tsz Yau 21-12, 16-21, 21-11 to reach the second round.
They face a much tougher test today against China’s sixth seeds Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi for a place in the quarter-finals.
Also in action are Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, who will take on Japan’s Akira Koga-Natsu Saito.
It will be the first meeting between the two pairs, although Soon Huat-Shevon are no strangers to Saito, having faced her several times when she partnered Hiroki Midorikawa.
The Malaysians had struggled against Saito-Midorikawa in the past, including a defeat at the Indonesian Masters last year.
