Fairuz/Lin told to win the danish title

Badminton: Fairuz-Lin told to win Danish title
By RAJES PAUL

PETALING JAYA: The men’s doubles pair of Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui let slip a good chance to win their first major badminton title at the World Cup in Yi Yang, China, on Saturday.
And now national doubles chief coach Rexy Mainaky is looking for a quick redemption from the duo in the Denmark Open, which begins with the qualifying tournament on Tuesday in Aarhus.
Rexy wants the pair, who he has picked as the replacement for veterans Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah in the squad for the Doha Asian Games, to nail the title.
At Yi Yang, Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui did well to beat two Asian Games-bound pairs. They beat Indonesians Alven Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto in a group match and stunned world champions Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China in the semi-finals.
But they lacked the fire in the final and went down 19-21, 13-21 to crafty Indonesians Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan.
Rexy said that Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui had displayed great maturity in their game.
“Throughout the competition, they showed qualities of champions and I had expected them to win the World Cup. But all that desire to win vanished when they reached the final,” said Rexy.
“It is a problem with most of the Malaysian players. But I am sure Fairuzizuan and Woon Fui can brush up on these qualities and become champions.”
In the Denmark Open, Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui, who are ranked ninth in the world, are seeded second behind two-time All-England champions Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen of Denmark. The top pairs from China, South Korea and Indonesia are giving the Open a skip.
Rexy said that the Denmark Open would be a good platform for Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui to make the breakthrough in winning their first title.
“I am not being over confident but I want them to go all the way to win the title. They are capable of achieving it,” he said.
The duo have done well this year, reaching the All-England semi-finals and the Malaysian Open final.
Their first real test in the Denmark Open will likely be in the quarter-finals where they are expected to meet either Shen Ye-He Hanbin of China or Rian Sukmawan-Eng Hian of Indonesia. Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui have in their half World Championships runners-up Anthony Clark-Robert Blair of England.
The third seeded Malaysian pair of Tan Boon Heong-Hoon Thein How have pulled out from the competition to enable the former to concentrate on his preparation for the Asiad. The other Malaysian pair in the fray, Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock, will take on Singapore’s Hendri Kurniawan Saputra-Hendra Wijaya in the first round.