BADMINTON INDONESIAN OPEN REVIEW : Zakry glad he heeded Rexy’s advice By : K.M. Boopathy The star Online "I realise now why our coach Rexy (Mainaky) has been harsh on me all this while." This was the confession of Zakry Latif who agreed that Rexy's tough regime on him throughout the year has actually turned around his career which was once heading for a freefall. It was Rexy who decided split Zakry and Gan Teik Chai and combine the former with another struggling palyer Fairuzizuan Tazari, who was partnering Lin Woon Fui then, and the duo had been a revelation in their first three tournaments. Zakry-Fairuzizuan reached the semi-finals of their first tournament - the Asian Badminton Championships in Johor Baru last month - and made the quarter-finals after beating established compatriots Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in the Singapore Open. They proved it was no fluke when they downed former World No 1 Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundagaard Hansen of Denmark, former Olympic champions Candra Wijaya of Indonesia and Tony Gunawan of the United States before falling to world champions Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun in the final of the Indonesia Open. However, all this would not have materialised had Rexy did not hold a tight reign on Zakry whose constantly loses focus because of because the regular phone calls and meeting with friends. So impressed ws Rexy that he has already confirmed Zakry-Fairuzizuan as Malaysia's wild cards for the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 13-19. Chan Chong Ming-Hoon Thien How were the other pair in contention for the slot. "Rexy was always hard on me and first I did not understand why. Now I know it was actually concern and he wanted me to achieve my potential," said Zakry yesterday. "Since combining with Fairuz, I have changed my attitude and have been focusing on training more. I have to sacrifice all the dinner and supper breaks with friends. "Now that I've seen what my real ability is, I don't want to disapoint myself and Rexy as well. I cannot afford to be inconsistent anymore. "I never thought we will get the chance to play in the World Championships and we don't want to waste the golden opportunity." Rexy, when contacted in Jakarta on Sunday, said that Zakry and Fairuzizuan has shown so much of improvement as it is good for the entire doubles team. Rexy added that Kien Keat-Boon Heong were under so much pressure as they were seen the only Malaysian pair to challenge and beat the best but now he has Zakry-Fairuzizuan and veterans Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah who has reached the Indonesia and Singapore Open finals respectively. "I'm very proud Zakry-Fairuzizuan's performance. It is only their third tournament and to reach the final in such a difficult event is brilliant," said Rexy. "They could have done better if they had the experience but they have shown the fighting qualities. They need to be consistent and start aiming to become champions and that's what I want to see. "This will actually take the pressure away from Kien Keat-Boon Heong and we have more pairs who can shoulder the burden. "I have been very strict with Zakry because I don't want his talents to be wasted. I will remain the same as I don't Zakry-Fairuz to become arrogant and lose their way. It will be the same treatment for all pairs." It has been a productive year for the men's doubles squad as Malaysia made the final in six out of the eight international tournaments and winning four so far. Kien Keat-Boon Heong clinched the All England as well as the Malaysia and Swiss Opens while Tan Fook-Wan Wah toon the Asian Badminton Championships crown. Korea and German Opens were the only events which didn't have a Malaysian pair in final. Kien Keat-Boon Heong managed to reach the semi-finals in Jakarta but Rexy said the sparkle is still missing from Kien Keat's performance but optimistic of bringing them back to to the top again. The duo were in Batam yesterday for a friendly match against Indonesia but Rexy would be utilising the event to give pep talks and iron the players' problems. However, the good showing of Zakry-Fairuzizuan will be a blessing in disguise for Kien Keat-Boon Heong as they can now compete in tournament knowing that they have another world class pair who shoulder the burden.
Thanks for the article. It has just shown that how crucial is Rexy to Msia team. Kudos to Rexy... well done
When the 2 MD pairs were broken up to form Zakry/Tazari and LWF/GTC, who was initially touted as the stronger pair after the break up? I had the notion it was meant to ne LWF/GTC as Tazari was initially disappointed with the change. But as it turned out, Tazari/Zakry is proving themselves to be much stronger , able to even beat KKK/TBH, JE/ML and CW/TG....way to go !! If they keep at it, they may even overtake KKK/TBH..
honeymoon??? better not at this crucial time..........dont they wana book a place for themselves at OG?
Unexpected I thought too that the Mohammeds are the weaker pairs... both of them got commitments problems still recall tazari got punish for faking injuries and skippig training Only now i realise that zakry too.. When you are push to a corner, u got no other choices... u have to fight back. Lucky they did!! Really good for msia badminton cause this will increase the Malay Interest.. But i still think that the chinese & malay can better unite msia!
he shud have heeded his advices long long time ago.. not only now!! owh well.. at least he woke up from his dreamland!!!
good to see them doing well, i too initially thought the move by rexy was to have a stronger pair in gtc/lwf, but from the recent tournaments, it is definitely zakry/tazari who have been more impressive. beating kkk/tbh, je/ml and tg/cw are not mean feat, these are the top pairs in the world at the moment which shows they have great potential. once they get more comfortable with their combination as a pair, and have a few more big game experiences under their belt, hopefully they will be able to maintain a high level of consistency.
Wonder if it was Rexy's intention that Zakry/Tazari wud turn out to be the better pair or even he was surprised by their performances..
Zakry/Tazari has proved they are a capable pair. From what Zakry said we could see that these young men are talented but lacking of confidence, hence all the inconsistency and not committed. Once they realized what could they do (achieving semi-final, final, beating great pair in the world n even winning champion), they started to be serious and committed. So what's most M'sian players' lacking? Confidence and believing in oneself!!
i agree. i think maybe they have little self believe. when they do have the confidence, they perform well. then they get all the attention, most of it unwanted, and they get carried away. then they feel too pressured and lose their form. aiya, vicious cycle of malaysian players. nonetheless, i will support them anyday over other players. it's the patriotism in me.
huhuhuhuh huhu.....kkk n tbh is not da most precious pair noww......hoho..i think,fairuz n zl will beat them lol..:crying:
I'm sure woon fui and teik chai will rise up! Just that they need more time to adjust to the change. GO WOON FUI-TEIK CHAI!!! =) anyway, don't you think life is quite unfair sometimes. Those who didn't train as hard is doing better (for now, at least). lol.
