PETALING JAYA: Veteran men’s doubles pair Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Azriyn Ayub have revised their year-end target, setting their sights on breaking into the world’s top 16 after seeing their hopes of qualifying for the World Tour Finals fade.
The pair’s hopes of qualifying for the season-ending tournament in Hangzhou next month have taken a major hit after they slipped to 16th in the World Tour standings, with their position expected to drop further.
Their struggles began during the European leg last month, where they suffered first-round exits at the Arctic Open, Denmark Open and French Open.
Things did not improve at the Korean Open last week as they crashed out in the opening round after losing 11-21, 17-21 to home pair Jin Yong-Jo Song-hyun.
“We have not achieved our target yet, and for now, we want to break into the world’s top 16.
“Before heading to Europe last month, we were actually aiming to qualify for the World Tour Finals as we were ranked 11th in the standings at the time.
“But we did not play well in Europe, and now our chances of qualifying are very slim,” said Azriyn.
Azriyn-Wee Kiong now have an opportunity to get their campaign back on track at the Japan Masters in Kumamoto this week, although they face a tough opening-round test.
The world No. 28 pair will take on Denmark’s world No. 13 Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard.
Azriyn admitted that he needs to improve his communication with Wee Kiong if they are to put their recent struggles behind them.
“I think we have been a bit slow to figure out how to play during matches, and sometimes we lose our way.
“I feel that I need to communicate better with Wee Kiong from now on.
“Of course, we still want to win our first title together, but before thinking about that, our priority is to stay injury-free and play to our true potential,” he added.
Besides Azriyn-Wee Kiong, Malaysia will have four other pairs in the main draw, including Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who will take on India’s Hariharan Amsakarunan-M. R. Arjun in the opening round.
Rising pair Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King will face Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi, while Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani will meet China’s Chen Boyang-Liu Yi.
Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, meanwhile, have received a first-round bye.
Two other pairs, Chia Weijie-Teo Ee Yi and Goh V Shem-Choi Sol-gyu, will have to come through the qualifying rounds to secure their places in the main draw.
