(The Star 17 Jul 2007) Wee Kiong-Khe Wei share desire to be top mixed pair By RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttlers Tan Wee Kiong and Woon Khe Wei share nothing in common except for an ambition to become the country's top mixed doubles pair. And the duo will be out to put up a good showing in the ongoing Rakan Sukan Yonex Sunrise Asian Junior Championships at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara. Yesterday, they contributed a point in Malaysia's 5-0 win over Taiwan in Group A tie of the mixed team competition, beating Chen Wan-hui-Lee Cheng-wei. The win gave top seeded Malaysia the top spot in the group and a direct entry to the semi-finals against Japan. Japan pulled off a major upset when they beat South Korea 3-2 yesterday. The 18-year-old Wee Kiong did not want to put undue pressure in their second outing in the championships but Khe Wei relished their favourite tag and hoped to go one better in both the mixed team and mixed doubles events. Last year, Malaysia were beaten by the Koreans in the semi-finals of the team event and Wee Kiong-Khe Wei were the runners-up in the individual competition. “Khe Wei and I are different. We do not do things together. But when we are in training or in competition, we think alike. We can blend really well as a pair,” said Wee Kiong. “We started playing in the mixed doubles just two years ago. We are the top seeds in the individual event but I do not want to assume that we are the favourites. There are strong pairs from China and South Korea,” he said. The 18-year-old Khe Wei echoed her partner's sentiments. “The most common thing about us is that both of us are fast attacking players. We have progressed well as a pair,” said Khe Wei, who won her first international title with Wee Kiong at the German Juniors this year. They are now ranked 46th in the world and their most memorable moments were fighting displays against China's Zheng Bo-Gao Ling in the Singapore Open and Sudirman Cup this year. In the Asian junior individual event, Wee Kiong-Khe Wei's first real test will likely be against China's Zhang Nan-Xie Jing in the second round. In their same half of the draw are two seeded South Korean pairs Kim Ki-jung-Jung Kyung-eun (3rd-4th) and Lee Jung-hwan-Lee Se-reng (5th-8th).
hoping to see some upset of top pairs from them during the WC nex month. they r the champion in the making.
MX is a totally differet kinda game from MD or MS! We really need a specialist here... The game has evolve so much that we need to start them young to play in MX.
Other countries' top MD and WD players could also play XD and do well - best example is the legendary Kim Dong Moon/Ra Kyung Min pair who have their respective MD and WD partners who were also world beaters. Not for MAS' case. Perhaps it's because MAS seriously lacks world-class female players.
The recently crowned China Masters WD champ: Lili Natsir and Vita Marissa are excellent XD players... Then they paired up to become an excellent WD team... So we cannot really say which should come first. Same gender doubles then XD or vice-versa... Maybe we should not think about XD specialization too much too early... Just concentrate on becoming good doubles player. Gao Ling is a great current example. Her prize money earnings last year exceeded Lin Dan...
watching this pair played in the Asian Junior. we have a pair in the making. Though they make their share of mistake but i think we are on the right track. I think in the next few years we may have a strong Sudirman Cup Team.