Tuesday September 22, 2009
Top men’s pairs warned not to throw caution to the wind
By RAJES PAUL
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s top men’s doubles shuttlers Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif have been warned not to let their guard down in the Japan Open following the withdrawal of several top stars.
Injuries have forced world doubles champions Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng and South Koreans Lee Yong-dae-Jung jae-sung to pull out from the eighth-leg of the Super Series in Tokyo, which begins tomorrow.
In their absence, and barring any early setbacks, an all-Malaysian semi-final between Kien Keat-Boon Heong and Fairuzizuan-Zakry is a possibility.
Despite a smoother path, national doubles coach Rosman Razak preferred to play down their chances and, instead, warned the players to take every match seriously.
“The absence of the world champions and the runners-up has certainly paved the way for the others to have a shot at the title.
“But, sometimes, our players tend to take it easy when the draw seems to favour them,” said Rosman.
Cai Yun-Haifeng conceded a walkover to their compatriots Guo Zhengdong-Xu Chen in the men’s doubles final of the China Masters on Sunday at Changzhou due to an injury to Cai Yun.
The Koreans’ absence from the international stage continues with Yong-dae’s failure to recover in time from his hand injury.
The duo had also skipped last week’s China Masters.
Rosman, however, said that it would be interesting to see the return of Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia in the Japan Open.
They have been absent from the international circuit since skipping last month’s World Championships, where they were the defending champions.
The duo pulled out because Markis suffered from high blood pressure. For the Japan Open, Kien Keat-Boon Heong will have Singaporeans Hendri Kurniawan Saputra-Hendra Wijaya, Danes Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen and Americans Howard Bach-Tony Gunawan in their quarter.
In Fairuzizuan-Zakry’s quarter are two Indonesians – Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano and Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki-Rian Sukmawan.
Meanwhile, three-time world champion Lin Dan, who beat Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand for the China Masters men’s singles title on Sunday, will not compete in the Japan Open.
Top seed Lee Chong Wei is the hot favourite although he will have to contend with the fiery on-form Boonsak in the opening round.
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