TheStar
May14

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will have three men’s singles and three men’s doubles pairs at this year’s World Championships in Madrid from Sept 18-24. In the doubles, Malaysia even have the luxury of choosing their representatives from among four pairs.

The International Badminton Federation (IBF) will use the May 25 world rankings to determine the qualifiers for the world meet.

With no major events scheduled in the next two weeks, the current top 16 ranked players in all the events – men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles – are almost assured of their places.

In the men’s singles, Malaysia’s top three are Lee Chong Wei (world number 2), Mohd Hafiz Hashim (11th) and Kuan Beng Hong (14th).

Despite an uninspiring performance in the recent Thomas Cup Finals in Japan, Beng Hong will be making his debut in the world meet – thanks to Wong Choong Hann’s absence.

Choong Hann is ranked ninth but suffered a ruptured Achilles’ tendon during the Thomas Cup and is only likely to play next year.

In the men’s doubles, Malaysia have four pairs in the top 16.

Top among them are world number five Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, and Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat, who are currently lying seventh.

The other two are All-England semi-finalists Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon (11th) and Gan Teik Chai-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif (12th).

A country is allowed only three pairs at the World Championships even if there are more than that number in the top 16. However, a country can send a maximum of four players if all are ranked within the top eight.

The BA of Malaysia (BAM) secretary P. Ganga Rao said: “Unlike in the men’s singles, we can choose our best pairs for the world meet. It shows the rise of the men’s doubles players in recent times.

“The coaches will use a stretch of back-to-back Open tournaments to decide on the three pairs.

“The IBF will announce their final list of qualifiers based on the May 25 rankings. But the seedings of the players will be decided later. This means the players cannot afford to sit on their laurels in the upcoming tournaments.”

There are seven major Open tournaments – ranked between four to six stars – before the world meet. They are the Philippines Open (May 24-28), Indonesian Open (May 31-June 4), Singapore Open (June 5-11), Malaysian Open (June 13-18), Taiwan Open (June 20-25), Macau Open (July 19-23) and Thailand Open (July 25-30).

Malaysia will also have representatives in the women’s events at the world meet. In the women’s singles, Wong Mew Choo is assured of her place as she is ranked 13th in the world. Manila SEA Games champions Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui will also make their trip to Madrid after holding on to their position as the world number six pair.

In the mixed doubles, there are no Malaysians in the top 16 but world number 17th Pei Tty-Kien Keat are expected to qualify. They will go based on an IBF’s rule that allows one country to have at least one representative in every event if they have players ranked in the top 64 in the world.

The Badminton Rankings

Men’s singles 1. Lin Dan (Chn), 2. Lee Chong Wei (Mas), 3. Peter Gade-Christensen (Den), 4. Lee Hyun-il (Kor), 5. Kenneth Jonassen (Den), 6. Bao Chunlai (Chn), 7. Chen Hong (Chn), 8. Chen Jin (Chn), 9. Wong Choong Hann (Mas), 10. Niels Christian Kaldau (Den), 11. Mohd Hafiz Hashim (Mas), 12. Taufik Hidayat (Ina), 13. Ng Wei (Hkg), 14. Kuan Beng Hong (Mas), 15. Shon Seung-mo (Kor), 16. Park Tae-sang (Kor).

Men’s doubles 1. Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen (Den), 2. Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto (Ina), 3. Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun (Chn), 4. Mathias Boe-Carsten Morgensen (Den), 5. Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah (Mas), 6. Alven Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto (Ina), 7. Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat (Mas), 8. Michal Logosz-Robert Mateusiak (Pol), 9. Anthony Clark-Robert Blair (Eng), 10. Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen (Den), 11. Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui (Mas), 12. Gan Teik Chai-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif (Mas), 13. Guo Zhengdong-Xie Zhongbo (Chn), 14. Daniel A Shirley-John Gordon (Nzl), 15. Tadashi Ohtsuka-Keita Masuda (Jpn), 16. Markis Kidho-Hendra Setiawan (Ina).

Women’s singles 1. Zhang Ning (Chn), 2. Xie Xingfang (Chn), 3. Wang Chen (Hkg), 4. Xu Huaiwen (Ger), 5. Mia Audina (Ned), 6. Pi Hongyan (Fra), 7. Yao Jie (Ned), 8. Mori Kaori (Jpn), 9. Tracey Hallam (Eng), 10. Juliane Schenk (Ger), 11. Jiang Yanjiao (Chn), 12. Cheng Shao-chieh (Tpe), 13. Wong Mew Choo (Mas), 14. Petya Nedeltcheva (Bul), 15. Seo Yoon-hae (Kor), 16. Li Li (Sin).

Women’s doubles 1. Gao Ling-Huang Sui (Chn), 2. Yang Wei-Zhang Jiewen (Chn), 3. Lee Kyung-won-Lee Hyo-jung (Kor), 4. Gail Emms-Donna Kellogg (Eng), 5, Chien Yu-chin-Cheng Wen-hsing (Tpe), 6. Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui (Mas), 7. Du Jing-Yu Yang (Chn), 8. Nicole Grether-Juliane Schenk (Ger), 9. Kumiko Ogura-Reiko Shiota (Jpn), 10. Zhang Dan-Zhang Yawen (Chn), 11. T. Saralee-C. Sathinee (Tha), 12. Mette Scholdager-Britta Andersen (Den), 13. Kate Wilson-Smith-Kellie Lucas (Aus), 14. Ella Tripp-Joanne Nicholas (Eng), 15. Kamilla Augustyn-Nadiezda Kostiuczyk (Pol), 16. Jiang Yanmei-Li Yujia (Sin).

Mixed doubles 1. Zhang Jun-Gai Ling (Chn), 2. Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir (Ina), 3. Nathan Robertson-Gail Emms (Eng), 4. Xie Zhongbo-Zhang Yawen (Chn), 5. Lee Jae-jin-Lee Hyo-jung (Kor), 6. Jens Eriksen-Mette Scholdager (Den), 7. Anthony Clark-Donna Kellogg (Eng), 8. Daniel A. Shirley-Sara Runesten-Pedersen (Nzl), 9. Thomas Laybourn-Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Den), 10. Robert Blair-Natalie Munt (Eng), 11. Sudket Prapakamol-T. Saralee (Tha), 12. Songpol Anukritayawan-Kunchala-Vorawichitchaikul (Tha), 13. Ingo Kindervater-Katrin Piotrowski (Ger), 14. Robert Mateusiak-Nadiezda Kostiuczyk (Pol), 15. Travis Denney-Kate Wilson-Smith (Aus), 16. Hendry Kurniawan Saputra-Li Yujia (Sin).

both pairs are good....however they are very inconsistent....
e.g......AE 2006

I hope Hafiz and KBH will perform better this time. Good luck.
Are both of them going to train with the national players rather than Misbun?

TheStar
May14

In the men’s doubles, Malaysia have four pairs in the top 16.

Top among them are world number five Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, and Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat, who are currently lying seventh.

The other two are All-England semi-finalists Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon (11th) and Gan Teik Chai-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif (12th).

A country is allowed only three pairs at the World Championships even if there are more than that number in the top 16. However, a country can send a maximum of four players if all are ranked within the top eight.

The BA of Malaysia (BAM) secretary P. Ganga Rao said: “Unlike in the men’s singles, we can choose our best pairs for the world meet. It shows the rise of the men’s doubles players in recent times.

“The coaches will use a stretch of back-to-back Open tournaments to decide on the three pairs.


This news was released today, 16-May-2006.


Tuesday May 16, 2006

Badminton: Good news for back-up pair
By RAJES PAUL


KUALA LUMPUR:

After the disappointment of being left out of the squad for the recent Thomas Cup Finals in Japan, national back-up doubles pair of Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui can now afford to smile.

Coach Rexy Mainaky has named the world number 11 as the country’s third pair for the World Championships, which will be held in Madrid from Sept 18-24.

The All-England semi-finalists were chosen ahead of another back-up pair, Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Gan Teik Chai, who were also semi-finalists at the All-England this year.
http://thestar.com.my/archives/2006/5/16/sports/59mohd.jpg THE CHOSEN ONES: Mohd Fairuzizuan (left) and Lin Woon Fui, who were dropped from the recent Thomas Cup Finals, have been picked to compete in the World Championships in Madrid from Sept 18-24.
The two pairs assured of places in the championships in Madrid are world number five Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and the seventh ranked Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat.

In fact, Rexy has set his plans for national champions Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui to break into the top eight in the world to get a good seeding in the world meet.

“They (Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui) are currently the third-ranked Malaysian pair in the IBF (International Badminton Federation) rankings,” said Rexy, who resumed duties yesterday after a week’s break following the outing in the Thomas Cup Finals.

“To be fair, I will send them to the world championships. They deserve it based on their world rankings.”

With no major tournaments lined up for the next two weeks, the top 16 pairs based on the May 25 world rankings are assured of places in the world championships.

Although Malaysia have all their top four men’s pairs in the top 16 of the world rankings, the IBF only allow a country to send a maximum of three pairs. A country can only send all four pairs if they are ranked among the top eight. The same rule applies for the singles.

“Tan Fook-Wan Wah and Chong Ming-Kien Keat are assured of their places. It leaves us with the two remaining pairs but I plan to stick with the world rankings,” said Rexy.
“Zakry-Gan have informed me that it would be difficult for them to overtake their teammates because of the big differences in world ranking points.”

Rexy said that Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui would take part in three international Open tournaments – in the Philippines (May 24-28), Indonesia (May 31-June 4) and Malaysia (June 13-18) – to improve on their world rankings.

“Their performances are sluggish in training right now. We are increasing the pace for them to be better prepared. Their first test is the Philippines Open. It is my hope to see them among the eight seeds in the world meet,” said Rexy.

Despite making it clear about his choice of players for the trip to Madrid, Rexy, however, warned that these pairs should not take their places for granted.

“All of them will compete in selected Open tournaments. I hope that they do not perform poorly and give me reasons to reconsider my selection for the world meet,” he said.

Tan Fook-Wan Wah and Chong Ming-Kien Keat, who performed well at the recent Thomas Cup Finals, will see action in three upcoming Open tournaments.

Besides the Singapore Open (June 5-11) and the Malaysian Open, Tan Fook-Wan Wah will take part in the Macau Open (July 19-23) while Chong Ming-Kien Keat will participate in the Taiwan Open (June 20-25).

Badminton: Fairuz-Lin on title mission

By LIM TEIK HUAT

KUALA LUMPUR: Buoyed by their selection for the World Championships in Madrid in September, the third ranked national men's doubles pair of Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui will be aiming to lift the Philippines Open title next week.

Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui will be out to justify coach Rexy Mainaky's faith in their abilities to carry the challenge in the World Championships.

On Monday, Rexy named the world number 11 as the country's third pair for the championships scheduled for Sept 18-24. They were chosen ahead of Gan Teik Chai-Mohd Zakry Latif.

Most of the top doubles pairs are skipping the Philippines Open in Manila after having featured in the recent Thomas Cup Finals in Japan and this presents an opportunity for Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui to lift their first international Open title.

“The Philippines Open is a four-star tournament and it offers good ranking points,” said Fairuzizuan.

“We aim to win this title because it will help us improve on our world rankings. It will be good if we can get among the top eight seeds for the World Championships.”

The IBF will announce their final list of qualifiers for the world meet based on the May 25 rankings. However, the seedings will be decided at the end of June.

There are four Malaysian pairs among the top 24. Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah have regained their status as the top pair in the country at number five. Two rungs below are Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat.

There are six Open tournaments before the world meet after the Philippines Open. They are in Indonesia (May 31-June 4), Singapore (June 5-11), Malaysia (June 13-18), Taiwan (June 20-25), Macau (July 19-23) and Thailand (July 25-30).

Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui are also down to compete in Indonesia and Malaysia.

“Rexy has given us a chance to compete in our second World Championships,” said the 23-year-old Fairuzizuan.

“We hope to repay his faith by doing well in these coming tournaments. We did not get the chance to be in the squad for the Thomas Cup Finals and knowing early that we will be going to Madrid is a welcomed boost.”

After proving their abilities to challenge at the international level on numerous occasions, Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui were bitterly disappointed when they were left out of the 10-man squad to the Thomas Cup Finals. They decided not to go to Japan as sparring partners for the team.

The pair are the current national champions, which they achieved in the Grand Prix Finals by beating Chong Ming-Kien Keat in the final in December.

At the All-England in January, Woon Fui-Fairuzizuan upset defending champions Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China to reach the semi-finals. Their performance in Birmingham earned them a place in the team for the Thomas Cup qualifiers in Jaipur and Malaysia went on to emerge as the Asian Zone champions.

Fairuzizuan's only worry is how fast they can adapt to the 21-point best-of-three games scoring format.

“We are slow starters. We have yet to adapt to the new format. The coming tournaments will help us get used to it,” he said.

Go,Fairuz-Lin !

Stunning performance by Woon Fui & Fairuzizuan at AE2006.
Go go go......don't let us down in WC. I might go and support you all.
MALAYSIA BOLEH.

Tuesday July 18, 2006



Rexy ups the ante

BY RAJES PAUL

PETALING JAYA: National doubles coach Rexy Mainaky has raised the bar for the men’s doubles pairs ahead of the World Badminton Championships, scheduled for Sept 18-24 in Madrid.

He wants all three pairs – Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui – to be among the top four ranked pairs in the world before the seedings are finalised on Sept 7.

Currently, only Tan Fook-Wan Wah are out of the top four bracket at number seven and they get the chance to move up with strong performances in the Macau Open, which begins tomorrow.

Malaysian Open champions Chong Ming-Kien Keat and Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui are currently ranked third and fourth in the world.

Rexy said that the challenge should inspire the players to up their performances.

“To have three pairs in the top four in the world will certainly be a big boost to their confidence ahead of the World Championships. It will make them work harder in tournaments that they will compete in prior to the world meet. I want them all to get motivated,” said Rexy.

“Based on their past achievements and commitment in training, I am confident that this target can be met.”

Of the three pairs, only Tan Fook-Wan Wah will compete in the Macau Open and they have been seeded second behind world number two Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China.

Rexy hoped that Asian champions Tan Fook-Wan Wah would live up to their billing.

“Unlike Wan Wah, Tan Fook is still inconsistent. He runs out of focus easily. Hopefully, he will be able to iron this out at the Macau Open,” he said.

“Tan Fook-Wan Wah will also play in the Thailand Open (July 25-30) and Korean Open (Aug 21-27) for more opportunities to improve on their world rankings. The others will take part in only the Korean Open.”

In the Macau Open, Tan Fook-Wan Wah are in the half of the draw which has China’s Guo Zhengdong-Xie Zhongbo and South Korea’s Hwang Ji-man-Lee Jae-jin. Besides the duo, Malaysia will also be represented by world junior champions Tan Boon Heong-Hoon Thien How. They are drawn to play against Cai Yun-Haifeng in the quarter-finals.

In the men’s singles, Malaysia will be represented by world number one Lee Chong Wei and the Hashim brothers, Hafiz and Roslin.

Malaysia has a better shot at winning the Men's Doubles title rather than the Men's Singles at the World Championships 2006, as Rajes Paul explained on Sunday July 16, 2006.

Cheers... chris@ccc
=================

Sunday July 16, 2006

Badminton: Better shot for doubles
BY RAJES PAUL

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia have the world's top ranked singles player at the moment but they seem to have a better shot at winning the men's doubles title rather than the singles at the World Championships in September.

Some of the top pairs will be absent from the meet in Madrid from Sept 18-24 while world No 1 Lee Chong Wei will have his hands full with some of the best players around.

National chief coach Yap Kim Hock believes that Malaysia, who will now be the only country to be represented by three pairs – Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat, Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui – have their best chance of ending the agonising wait for a world title.

http://thestar.com.my/archives/2006/7/16/sports/s_p57tazari.jpg
POWER ON: Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (front) and Lin Woon Fui will take part in the Malacca Open next week.

Some of the countries have withdrawn players either due to injuries or a change in partnerships.

Denmark were the latest casualties, losing their prized pair of Mathias Boe-Carsten Morgensen, who are currently ranked 11th in the world, following an injury to Boe.

With the duo out, the Danes will be counting on two-time All-England champions and world number one pair of Jens-Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen and world number 19 Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen.

Indonesia will not have former world champions Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto as Candra called it quits after the Thomas Cup Finals in Japan in May.

Their hopes rest on Alven Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto and Markis Kidho-Hendra Setiawan.

Jung Jae-sung-Lee Jae-jin are South Korea's top pair but they will not feature in the world meet as a pair because both have switched partners.

Korea will now be counting on Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae and Hwang-Ji-man-Han Sang-hoon to win honours.

There have not been any major changes in the China's doubles line up but both their top pairs Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng and Guo Zhengdong-Xie Zhongbo are beatable.

With the many absentees, Kim Hock is hoping the Malaysian players can continue with their recent good results.

“Unlike the men's singles, the race in the men's doubles is really wide open. Some pairs are not around and some have switched partners. That puts Malaysia among the contenders,” he said.

“The performances of our doubles players had also been good this year. Hopefully, they will rise to the occasion.”

In the All-England, Malaysia had three pairs – Tan Fook-Wan Wah, Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui, Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Gan Teik Chai – in the semi-finals; Malaysia made it a 1-2 finish in the Asian Badminton Championships through Tan Fook-Wan Wah and Tan Boon Heong-Hoon Thein How; the men's doubles scored full points in the 2-3 defeat to Denmark in the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup Finals in Japan in May; and Chong Ming-Kien Keat did well to win their first Malaysian Open title in Kuching last month.

As part of their preparation for the world meet, the world number seven pair of Tan Fook-Wan Wah will be taking part in the Macau Open, which starts on Wednesday, to improve on their world ranking to fourth in the world.

Chong Ming-Kien Keat and Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui will take part in the Malacca Open next week before heading to the Thailand Open, scheduled to be held from July 25-30.

Malaysia have yet to win a world title since the tournament's inception in 1977.