Going great guns: Ong Yew Sin (left) and Teo Ee Yi have been the country’s most consistent doubles pair so far this year.
PETALING JAYA: Nothing brings delight for a coach more than seeing their players give their heart and soul on court.
And that’s exactly what coach Rosman Razak witnessed as his charges Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi put up a battling display before their agonising defeat to world No. 9 Choi Sol-gyu-Kim Won-ho in the men’s doubles quarter-finals of the Singapore Open on Friday.
It was only Ee Yi’s first tournament since recovering from a right ankle injury suffered two weeks ago but it did not stop him from maintaining a high standard of play while Yew Sin was also equally fired up with his superb attacking from the baseline.
The independent pair fought bravely against the stubborn Sol-gyu-Won-ho and held match points at 20-18 in both the second and third games but could not convert their chances and lost out narrowly 22-20, 24-26, 22-24 in a titanic 89-minute match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Rosman was proud with his charges’ performance despite keeping everyone on the edge of the seats throughout the match.
“They just didn’t have luck yesterday (Saturday). They really fought hard,” said Rosman. “They didn’t have the best of preparations for this tournament as Ee Yi had just recovered from a right ankle injury that he had sustained at the Malaysian Masters two weeks ago.
“Despite this, they tried hard to win and I’m satisfied with their efforts.”
Rosman now wants the world No. 7 pair to move on from the defeat.
“We have to forget about this loss and focus on the Indonesian Open (which starts on Tuesday in Jakarta) next,” said Rosman.
“Yew Sin and Ee Yi will rest for one or two days before preparing for Indonesia.”
Despite the loss, Yew Sin-Ee Yi have been the most consistent men’s doubles pair in the country this year.
The pair have reached at least the last eight in all their individual tournaments this year except for the German Open and All-England in March where they were eliminated in the second round.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi’s best result this year was in the Asian Championships in April where they finished as runners-up.
The duo also reached the semi-finals of the Swiss Open.
In the Indonesian Open, Yew Sin-Ee Yi are set to open their campaign against world No. 23 M. R. Arjun-Dhruv Kapila of India.
A win over the Indians will likely see them face homesters and world No. 10 Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin.
