The below four players are currently a class above the rest in Malaysia. Chan Chong Ming Choong Tan Fook Lee Wan Wah Chew Choon Eng However, they are still lagging behind the world top pairs. Which combo do you guys think will present the best hope for Malaysia? Choong/Lee are showing better results for the past 3 weeks, but are they good enough to bring honours to the nation? Should the existing pairings be splitted like what previously Denmark did, and currently adopted by Indonesia?
Not good enough Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook is not good enough to play as 1st double as proven by their past track records, however, this pair is good enough as 2nd pair with their hugh experience. Yap needs to recognise the fact that Chew/Chan is also not the 1st doble material, we need to develop and bring our our younster fast or else TC2004 is another "close but not close enough" re-run. Yap is in the difficult position as Olympic is closing in while our 1st double Chan/Chew is disarrayed, too late to try out new combo and can only hope the best from here. Good luck Yap!
Tan Fook-Wan Wah crash out in semis, again The Star Online > Sports Sunday September 7, 2003 Tan Fook-Wan Wah crash out in semis, again KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia's Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah failed for a third straight time to reach the final of an Open, when they lost 5-15, 6-15 to South Korean scratch pair Kim Dong-moon-Lee Dong-soo in the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open at the Likas Sports Complex here yesterday. There had been high hopes on the Malaysians following their two semi-final finishes at the Singapore and Indonesian Opens recently. But they fell well short of expectations yesterday, no thanks to an ankle injury to Tan Fook. Tan Fook, 27, admitted that the ankle injury, which he had suffered on Wednesday, had hampered him. “My performance was slightly affected and I was afraid to run and jump. I was feeling quite uncomfortable,” said a dejected Tan Fook. However, they were honest enough to admit that it was not an excuse for their below-par performance. “We had wanted to give a good fight but instead we went down tamely,” lamented the 28-year-old Wan Wah. The pair, however, still believe they are on the right track to qualify for the Athens Olympic Games next year. “The press and public may have given up hope on us after the World Championships in Birmingham (they lost in the first round to Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto) but we know we can make it,” said Wan Wah. “In every defeat, we learnt our lessons and became better. We have reached the semi-finals of three Open tournaments and our primary target now is to qualify for the Olympics and win a medal in Athens,” he added. National doubles chief coach Yap Kim Hock, however, has a more immediate target for his charges. “I am happy that they have qualified for three semi-finals. But now, I want them to go one step better. I want them to beat South Koreans Kim Dong-moon-Ha tae-kwon and Lee Dong-soo-Yoo Yong-sung and the Indonesian pairs (Candra-Halim Hariyanto and Sigit-Trikus Hariyanto). “I will not mind if they do not win the title but they must beat these pairs,” he said. Meanwhile, the men’s doubles final in the Malaysian Open will be between China’s Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun and Dong-moon-Dong-soo. The Chinese beat Trikus-Sigit 15-13, 15-11 yesterday. China have one title in the bag. It will be an all-Chinese affair in the women’s doubles with Yang Wei-Zhang Jiewen taking on Gao Ling-Huang Sui.
Re: Tan Fook-Wan Wah crash out in semis, again Yap missed out the young Chinese pairs. IMHO, the young guns from China like Sang/Zheng and Cai/Fu are more lethal than the Indonesians at this moment. Should not underestimate them any more!
I think Yap knows that there isnt much more potential that he can cultivate with these 4 guys, they are about as good as they are gonna get. They can play with the worlds best, occasionally beat some of em and consistent stretches like this make them alot more formidable. There are some new fellas coming up, and I guess Yap will be concentrating more on them. This is Yap's 1st year, so he will have to produce some "results" before making changes.. I think us Malaysians ourselves are starting to lose lower our expectations of our doubles pairs.. gone are the days of Cheah Soon Kit, Razif, Jalani, etc etc etc... But maybe the future holds somethin better
