PETALING JAYA: The rise of shuttler Seo Seung-jae is making life difficult for all the top mixed doubles pairs in the world.
And independent shuttler Tan Kian Meng has hailed the South Korean for his deception and unpredictable shots on court after losing in the semi-finals of the China Open at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Changzhou yesterday.
World No. 23 Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing found the recently crowned world champions Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung too hot to handle and went down 19-21, 11-21.
Kian Meng acknowledged that Seung-jae, who also won the men’s doubles crown at the world meet in Copenhagen with Kang Min-hyuk, was just too good with Yu-jung.
“They were more consistent and confident than us,” said Kian Meng in the pair’s post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“Seo’s skills are impressive as his shots are quite unpredictable. You don’t know where it (the shuttle) will go.
“Both are capable of unusual shots as they are both left handed.”
Pei Jing said: “We did take a lead in the first game but we could not finish well.
“In the second game, we lost focus and that cost us continuous points.”
Pei Jing, though, was satisfied with her overall performance with Kian Meng in the tournament.
Reaching the last four was a remarkable turnaround for the independent duo after failing to clear the early rounds in any of their individual competitions this year before this.
“Overall, I’m satisfied with my performance this week,” said Pei Jing.
“We didn’t finish perfectly but our journey is still going on.”
Meanwhile, another pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei’s fine run also ended after they went down 16-21, 13-21 to world No. 8 Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France.
The world No. 11 had beaten the French pair in the recent world meet but could not raise their game this time.
Mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto rued a missed opportunity for Tang Jie-Ee Wei to reach the final.
“Tang Jie and Ee Wei could not bring out their best performance today (yesterday),” said Nova.
“They struggled with the strong draught on court and could not play as well as they did in the World Championships.
“Reaching the semi-finals in a Super 1000 event for the first time is good but they missed out on a big chance to go further.”
