KUALA LUMPUR: Quality is indeed more important than quantity.
Six pairs competed in the first round of the men’s doubles competition over two days in the All-England but on Wednesday, only professionals Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani were left standing as the sole representatives.
Hopes were on debutants Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun to join the pros but the duo were blown away 15-21, 8-21 by world No. 6 He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu of China on Wednesday.
Before them, two-time All-England runners-up Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King fell like ninepins.
Former All-England champion Datuk Seri Jalani Sidek is quite surprised that the number of representatives dwindled drastically despite fielding six pairs in the tournament.
Before heading to Birmingham, several Malaysian pairs were seen as strong contenders to end the country’s 18-year wait for the men’s doubles title, last won by Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in 2007.
Jalani, who won the 1982 All-England title with brother Datuk Razif Sidek, expressed his disappointment as top hopes Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik had their campaign derailed by injury.
Aaron’s performance was hampered by a shoulder injury.
“It’s unfortunate because this was the best opportunity we had. We had six pairs competing in the All-England, but only one remain. That, to me, is a wasted chance,” said Jalani.
“If Malaysian pairs had faced each other, at least one would have made it to the later stages, possibly even the final.
Jalani said major tournaments require meticulous preparation.
“As I’ve said before, winning or losing is secondary, but what matters is knowing that the preparation was solid.
“I hope they had given their best, even a loss would have been acceptable. A win, of course, would have been even better,” said Jalani, who won the All-England title in 1982 alongside Razif.
Jalani however was frustrated that several debutants such as Wei Chong-Kai Wun and Arif-Roy King failed to capitalise on their chances, suffering early exits instead of making deeper runs in the tournament.
“”These players had the chance to compete at the All-England, and it should not have been taken lightly. While the Olympics may be seen as the pinnacle of prestige, the All-England has long been regarded as a tournament where true champions are made.”
Jalani urged the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to conduct a post-mortem on the national squad’s underwhelming performance, particularly among players under their umbrella, to determine the reasons behind their lacklustre showing at the All-England.
“A post-mortem is necessary to understand what went wrong. As I mentioned, when coaching changes occur, challenges arise.”
Last month, the BA of Malaysia hired Herry Iman Pierngadi as a replacement for Tan Bin Shen but he hardly had time to coach them.
“Players need time to adapt to new training methods and modules. I’m not placing blame on anyone, but this is the reality for players, I have experienced it myself,” he added.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Men’s singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Weng Hongyang (Chn) 22-20, 21-11; Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Rasmus Gemke (Den) 21-10, 21-18; Lin Chun-yi (Tpe) bt Viktor Axelsen (Den) 21-19, 13-21, 21-11; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Chi Yu-jen (Tpe) 21-15, 21-8; Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) bt Lei Lanxi (Chn) 21-19, 21-15; Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-13, 15-21, 21-9; Wang Tzu-wei (Tpe) bt Lu Guangzu (Chn) 21-13, 21-16.
Men’s doubles: Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto (Ina) bt Chen Boyang-Liu Yi (Chn) 21-17, 15-21, 21-17; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard (Den) 21-17, 21-15; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (Mas) bt Kim Gi-jung-Kim Sa-rang (Kor) 21-17, 21-14; Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Kittinupong Kedren-Dechapol Puavaranukroh (Tha) 21-13, 21-7; Xie Haonan-Zeng Weihan (Chn) bt Chiu Hsiang- chieh-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) 21-19, 15-21, 23-21; He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (Chn) bt Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) 21-15, 21-8; Kang Min-hyuk-Ki Dong-ju (Kor) bt Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Azriyn Ayub (Mas) 21-14, 21-12; Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul (Tha) bt Andreas Sondergaard-Jesper Toft (Den) 21-11, 21-18; Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza Isfahani (Ina) bt Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) 21-17, 22-20.
Women’s singles: Gregoria Mariska (Ina) bt Michelle Li (Can) 21-18, 21-17; Kim Ga-eun (Kor) bt P.V. Sindhu (Ind) 19-21, 21-13, 21-13; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-6, 21-9; An Se-young (Kor) bt Gao Fangjie (Chn) 21-16, 21-14; Chiu Pin-chian (Tpe) bt Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Tha) 21-16, 21-9; Han Yue (Chn) bt Pai Yu-po (Tpe) 21-11, 21-9; Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) bt Chang Ching-hui-Yang Ching-tun (Tpe) 21-14, 21-18; Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) bt Natsuki Nidaira (Jpn) 19-21, 21-13, 21-16; Sim Yu-jin (Kor) bt Kaoru Sugiyama (Jpn) 21-6, 21-17; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Line Kjaersfeldt (Den) 21-10, 21-18; Wen Chi-hsu (Tpe) bt Mia Blichfeldt (Den) 21-18, 21-16.
Women’s doubles: Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand (Ind) bt Sung Shuo-yun-Yu Chien-hui (Tpe) 21-17, 21-13; Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (Ina) bt Hsu Yin-hui-Lin Jhih-yun (Tpe) 17-21, 22-20, 21-19; Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard (Tha) bt Paulina Hankiewicz-Kornelia Marczak (Pol) 21-16, 21-15;
Mixed Doubles: Gregory Mairs-Jenny Mairs (Eng) bt Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 21-17, 13-21, 21-13; Rohan Kapoor-Gadde Shivani (Ind) bt Ye Hong-wei-Nicole Gonzales-chan (Tpe) 21-10, 17-21, 24-22; Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang (Tpe) bt Callum Hemming-Estelle Van Leeuwen (Eng) 17-21, 21-12, 21-19; Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Jac- queline Cheung-Catherine Choi (Can) 21-18, 21-11; Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Jeong Naeun-Lee Yeon-woo (Kor) 22-20, 16-21, 21-19; Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Priya Konjengbam-Shruti Mishra (Ind) 21-9, 21-4
