PETALING JAYA: Professional pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi would have been in pole position if they had capitalised on several opportunities to win titles on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) tour last year.
But they muffed it up.
Despite having reached the quarter-final stage and beyond in 11 tournaments, they only managed to reach the final of the Asian Championships where they lost to India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
They were the top seeds in the Taiwan Open but lost in the semi-final match to compatriots Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun who went on to clinch the title.
The pair, who was ranked world No. 6 last year, also lost in the semi-finals of the Japan Masters and the Swiss Open and those misses are also part of their current struggle in the Olympic Games race where they are currently ranked No. 11.
The Badminton of Malaysia (BAM)’s Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are almost assured of their Olympic ticket at No. 4.
And Yew Sin-Ee Yi’s only chance now is to break into the top eight to claim the second berth for Malaysia in the men’s doubles.
It can only happen if Yew Sin-Ee Yi end their title drought or at least consistently reach the semi-final stage before the qualifying period concludes at the end of April.
“If we had won a few tournaments, we could have been in a very safe position but the results were not good. So, now we have to work hard all the way,” said Yew Sin.
“Of course there will be a lot of pressure but we need to learn how to handle the situation to raise our performance.
“I think the pressure will also help us to play better in tournaments because without that, we may not be able to lift ourselves.
“Currently, any pair (in the top 20) is capable of beating each other and we have to keep our focus and take one match at a time.”
It may not be a rosy start in the Malaysian Open as Yew Sin-Ee Yi will have to face Taiwan’s Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han in the first round before a possible second-round clash against either Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen or Indonesians Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin for a place in the last eight.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi reached the quarter-finals at the Malaysian Open last year and a preliminary exit at the Axiata Arena next week will only make things difficult for them.
