KUALA LUMPUR – Men’s doubles shuttlers Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi were the last surviving Malaysians at the recently concluded Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) held in Dubai.
Despite walking away with a silver medal, many described the match as their finest performance after having upset top-seeded Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the quarterfinals, followed by fourth-seeded Japanese Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi in the semifinals.
Their coach Rosman Razak told The Vibes that he does not want Yew Sin and Ee Yi to feel disheartened for not winning the title.
Instead, he said he is proud of their achievement, and had encouraged the world number eight pair to move forward and shift their focus towards the Sudirman Cup, which will take place in Suzhou, China this month.
“I am still proud of them, because they put in their maximum effort, and their never-say-die attitude carried them through the tournament.
“As everyone knows, it is a long journey towards the (2024) Olympic qualification period.
“We need to take a positive approach after the defeat and focus on our preparations for the Sudirman Cup.
“We are not there yet, but we will keep trying to be better next time,” he said when contacted.
In the final at the Al Nasr Club yesterday, Ong-Teo won the first game, 21-16, before India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty fought back to take the second set and the third set, winning 17-21, 19-21 respectively.
Rankireddy-Shetty’s win makes them the first Indian pair to claim the Asian crown since the tournament’s inception in 1962.
Meanwhile, Rosman also confirmed that Ong-Teo will join their teammates for the centralised training at Akademi Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara in preparation for the Sudirman Cup.
Malaysia is drawn in Group C with India, Taiwan, and Australia for the Sudirman Cup. Only the top two teams from the group will qualify for the knockout stage.
For the record, Malaysia have yet to win the Sudirman Cup title. – The Vibes, May 1, 2023
