The Star Online > Sports Thursday April 14, 2005 Tan Fook and Choon Eng to go separate ways after Kedah Open BY LIM TEIK HUAT PETALING JAYA: Choong Tan Fook and Chew Choon Eng will part company as a pair now that they have been ruled out of the World Badminton Championships, which will be held in Los Angeles in August. National chief coach Yap Him Hock said yesterday that the six-month partnership of the two senior players would come to an end after the Kedah Open next week. He said that Tan Fook would team up with his regular partner, Lee Wan Wah, and Choong Eng would be asked to pair up with former national number one singles player Wong Choong Hann. These two pairs will be entered for the Singapore Open (June 27-July 3) and Malaysian Open (July 5-10). Kim Hock had earlier said that he would review the Tan Fook-Choon Eng partnership after the Japan Open. “I paired up Tan Fook and Choon Eng with the the hope that they would qualify for the World Championships. “But their performances have not been up to the mark this year,†said Kim Hock. Tan Fook teamed up with Choon Eng after Wan Wah underwent a knee surgery late last year and in the Japan Open last week, they crashed to a first-round defeat by Hong Kong's Liu Kwok Wa-Albertus Susanto. The highlight of their brief partnership was a runners-up finish in the China Open and a semi-final appearance in the Indonesian Open last year. They are currently ranked 21st in the world and are unlikely to be among the top 24 in the May 19 rankings to earn a place in the world championships. Wan Wah resumed training with the national team on Monday but he will not see action in the Kedah Open, which is the first of a three-leg national circuit. “Wan Wah has just made a comeback and he is not ready for competition yet. He needs time to get back into full fitness,†said Kim Hock. On Choon Eng forging a partnership with Choong Hann, Kim Hock feels that it will benefit both parties. “Choon Eng has the experience and it will help the team,†he said. “I will also have another option when it comes to team competitions. “Their experience will also help in terms of providing quality sparring for the juniors.†For Choong Hann, the partnership with Choon Eng also opens up a possibility of taking a less taxing role in the future. The 28-year-old Choong Hann is currently the third ranked singles player in the country after Lee Chong Wei and Mohd Hafiz Hashim. Playing the doubles is no new game for Choong Hann. He partnered Cheah Soon Kit, who is now the coach of the national women's doubles players, to win the National Grand Prix Finals title in 1997. Choong Hann also partnered Wan Wah and they defeated the reputable Thai combination of Pramote Teerawiwatana-Tesana Panvisvas to reach the semi-finals of the 2001 SEA Games.
hey quite surprising that won choong han is going to play doubles, does anybody know if he is still going to play singles?
LOL. Better if he switches to doubles now!! He's losing his singles place now and I'm sure he would get his old form back in doubles compared to the form he is in now
We need more quality assistance in the doubles department anyway. And it has always suited WCH to play doubles, maybe even more than singles. But will Chew CE be a good enough partner for him. Are they for real?
I think it will be better off for BAM to offer Chew CE a full-time sparring partner position, rather than to keep him as a national player. His peak is certainly over!
I think Wong Choon Han still does have a chance in the singles. But the coach wants him to try in the doubles event. I've seen him play in the doubles partnering Koo Kien Kiat once in training and he did well too. Besides him.. Hafiz Hashim plays well too in doubles. But he lack in quickness.
