One of the best: Woon Khe Wei (left) and Vivian Hoo in action against Gabrielle Adcock-Lauren Smith of England in the women’s doubles semi-finals at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
PETALING JAYA: We should stop repeating mistakes from the past by depending only on one pair in the women’s doubles.
And former doubles star Woon Khe Wei has urged the juniors to step up and increase the pool of talents at the top level.
Currently, the whole nation is dependent on Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah.
It was a similiar scenario when Khe Wei was riding high as the top pair with Vivian Hoo.
Prior to that Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui were one class above the rest.
Khe Wei hoped the top would be heavy with more than one pair fighting against the rest of the world.
“I think they (Pearly-Thinaah) are quite good because their playing style is different from ours. They play a variety of styles and their shots are powerful,” said Khe Wei.
“In my opinion, the juniors have to focus on developing their personal strengths and abilities as women’s doubles players have to be individually strong enough in order to fight against foreign players.
“Individual strength and ability will always take precedence over game plans and strategies,” added Khe Wei, the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallist with Vivian Hoo.
Khe Wei added that the juniors should also be sent for more tournaments so that they can improve further.
“To be honest, I don’t really see many juniors competing because Pearly-Thinaah are the ones who compete frequently.
“I really hope that juniors can catch up to Pearly-Thinaah,” she added.
Malaysia’s women’s doubles department has always been regarded as the weaker link, with the exception of Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty, Khe Wei-Vivian Hoo and Lee Meng Yean-Chow Mei Kuan, who have achieved several firsts over the last two decades.French Open champions Pearly-Thinaah, at sixth, are the nation’s highest-ranked pair in the world while independent pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien are in 17th spot.
Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing showed promising signs in their partnership and reached a career-high 18th but their progress was cruelly halted by injury to the former. The other pairs are currently ranked outside of the world’s top 50.
After her retirement in 2019, Khe Wei started her own Medallist Sport Academy with the aim of unearthing and developing talents.
“I did not set an age limit for those interested in joining the academy.
“I hope to encourage the older participants to maintain their skills and stamina by keeping them active.
“I could not win a medal in the Olympics, so I started the academy to fulfil my own dream in the hopes of unearthing and grooming young talents.”
