May we rediscover our fantastic form in Copenhagen, says Kai Wun
PETALING JAYA: Men doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are praying that their Malaysian Masters form will resurface so that they can turn their World Championships debut in Copenhagen into a memorable outing.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun pulled off their careers’ best performance in the home meet in May.
They had beaten top Denmark pair Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, former world champions Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan of Indonesia and another Indonesian pair Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin, the world No. 10, before losing in three close games to South Koreans and world No. 6 Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae in the final.
Kai Wun believed such a performance would make them a handful against any pair in Copenhagen.
“I regard the Malaysian Masters as our best performance in our careers so far. If we can play like that at the World Championships, we can achieve very good results,” said the 23-year-old Kai Wun.
“Although we won the Taiwan Open in June, the competition in the Malaysian Masters was tough as there were so many top 10 pairs and it was satisfying.
“Personally, out target is to try and reach the quarter-finals but if we can play like we did at home, it could be even better.”
They only made it to the World Championships at the eleventh hour due to the withdrawal of Indian pair M.R. Arjun-Dhruv Kapila on Wednesday, a day before the draw was conducted.
With their inclusion, Malaysia will have three pairs including defending champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.
The world No. 25 Wei Chong-Kai Wun will play French pair Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar and a win will likely pit them against Choi Sol-gyu-Kim Won-ho of South Korea in the second round. If they win, they will likely face world No. 3 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang of China, which is set to be their biggest early challenge in Copenhagen.
“We are playing the French pair in the first round but we don’t want to take anyone for granted. We will also be playing the South Korean combination and need to be at our best to advance,” said Kai Wun.
“We have received a surprise break by getting into the tournament at the last minute and we don’t want to waste this opportunity.
The unpredictable nature of competition has made it an even playing field on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) world tour this year where no pairs have managed to dominate the men’s doubles scene.
The same scenario could help rising pairs like Wei Chong-Kai Wun make a breakthrough in Copenhagen.
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