Saturday January 26, 2013

Vivian confident partner Khe Wei will be back soon

KUALA LUMPUR: While everyone is fretting over woman doubles shuttler Woon Khe Wei’s foot injury, partner Vivian Hoo is confident she will make a strong comeback.

In fact, Vivian is looking forward to Khe Wei’s return for the All-England in Birmingham from March 5-10 where they bid revive their hopes of qualifying for the World Championships.

The duo had skipped the back-to-back Korean and Malaysian Opens because Khe Wei was not ready for competition.

The duo, currently ranked 28th in the world, need to get back into the top 24 bracket by end of April if they harbour hopes of playing in the World Championships in Guangzhou in August.

Vivian-Khe Wei have all the potential to be the perfect replacements for seniors Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty, who have quit the game to become coaches last year.

Eei Hui is now an assistant coach to Rosman Razak in the women’s national team and works closely with Vivian and Khe Wei while Pei Tty has been working with the youngsters at the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS).

It was unfortunate that injury to Khe Wei has slowed down their transition to become the country’s top pair.

Currently, another pair Goh Liu Ying-Lim Yin Loo are ranked higher – 25th in the world while the Ng sisters - Hui Ling and Hui Ern – are just one rung below Khe Wei-Vivian at 29th.

The 22-year-old Vivian said that the priority was for Khe Wei to recover completely.

“At first, we were down because the injury affected our performances. But it is better for Khe Wei to recover completely rather than playing with problems on her foot,” said Vivian, after a training session at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara.

“We are scheduled to make a comeback at the All-England. We have some catching up to do and the next two months will be challenging. I do not want Khe Wei to rush into making a return. We will take one step at a time. She has my complete understanding.

During Khe Wei’s absence, Vivian had been training on other aspects of their game.

“Khe Wei has been busy with her rehabilitation programme. In her absence, I spend more time working on my own game. I guess, this will only make us more hungry for success when we get into action again,” she said.

The lanky Vivian agreed that expectations would be high for them to emulate the success of Eei Hui-Pei Tty.

“My best outing with Khe Wei was winning the Indonesian Open GP Gold in 2011. Much is expected of us and many would want to compare us with our seniors. Khe Wei and I will not rush into things but we are surely looking forward to set our own milestones in our careers,”

Meanwhile, Rosman hoped for a change of fortunes in the women’s doubles this year but if there are still undesirable results, he intends to review the partnerships after the world meet in August.

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