Tuesday November 10, 2009
Make or break time for Fairuzizuan-Zakry at HK Open
By LIM TEIK HUAT
PETALING JAYA: It will be make or break for men’s doubles pair Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif when they resume Super Series action in the Hong Kong Open tomorrow.
The World Championships semi-finalists are in danger of missing the cut for next month’s Super Series Masters Finals in Terengganu after uninspiring performances in their last two tournaments in Europe.
Fairuzizuan-Zakry lost 21-14, 17-21, 19-21 to Danish rising stars Kasper Henriksen-Anders Kristiansen in the second round of the Denmark Open last month.
Their campaign in the French Open the following week ended with a tame quarter-final defeat by Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.
With top ranked Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong alrady assured of qualification, the heat is on Fairuzizuan-Zakry to follow suit.
The 12th ranked Fairuzizuan-Zakry need to reach the last four in the Hong Kong Open and next week’s China Open to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the US$500,000 season-closing tournament.
Only the top eight pairs after the completion of the 12-leg Tour will qualify for the Masters Finals.
It will not be any easier as the Malaysian pair are likely to set up a repeat of last year’s final clash against South Korea’s top pair of Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung if they progress to the last eight in Hong Kong.
Yong-dae-Jae-sung, the World Championships runners-up, are making a comeback after a two-month break from international duty and have not lost to the Malaysian pair so far.
Fairuzizuan-Zakry open their campaign against English pair Nathan Robertson-Anthony Clark tomorrow and a win will pit them against either Hong Kong’s Yohan Hadikusumo Wiratama-Wong Wai Hong or Hui Wai Ho-Albertus Susanto Njoto in the second round.
National doubles coach Rosman Razak believes that Fairuzizuan-Zakry stand a slim chance of making it to the Masters Finals “unless they produce an outstanding performance”.
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