KUALA LUMPUR: National doubles chief coach Yap Kim Hock does not want top doubles pair of Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng to blame each other for their failure to make an impact in international tournaments over the last two months. And Kim Hock hopes that the duo will pull themselves together to give a better performance in the Danish Open, which begins tomorrow in Aarlus. Chong Ming-Choon Eng have not been playing up to expectations since their quarter-final appearance in the World Championships in Birmingham in August. They made it to the last eight in the Indonesian Open but crashed out in the early rounds in the Singapore and Dutch Opens. The pair withdrew from the home Open Grand Prix two weeks ago because Chong Ming came down with food poisoning. “They have been down. They were expected to do well at the world meet in the absence of the top two Korean pairs (Kim Dong-moon-Ha Tae-kwon and Lee Dong-soo-Yoo Yong-sung),” said Kim Hock. “But they suffered a shock defeat by China's Sang Yang-Zheng Bo and it shook their confidence.” Kim Hock felt that the duo can regain their true form if they stood by each other. “It is common to blame each other when things go wrong. I have experienced this myself,” he said. “But if Chong Ming-Choon Eng hope to recover from this setback, they have to support each other. They will be on the rise again if they regain confidence in each other. “I do not intend to stop them from competing in international tournaments because of their poor form. They have been training hard and they are committed. I still have faith in them. “It's now up to them to go out there and start playing like they used to do.” Malaysia are banking on Chong Ming-Choon Eng to shine in the US$170,000 Danish Open, which has attracted the best players in the world. Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah have withdrawn from the tournament. Tan Fook has been deemed unfit after coming down with fever recently. Chong Ming-Choon Eng will have a tough opening match against Malaysian Open runners-up Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun of China. “I am sure if they can get past the first match, it will be smooth for them in the Danish Open,” said Kim Hock. If they advance, they are expected to play the winners of the match between South Koreans Yim Bang-eun-Kim Yong-hyun and Indonesians Trikus Hariyanto-Sigit Budiarto. A semi-final appearance should pit them against China's Zhang Jun-Chen Qiqiu. In the Dutch Open last week, Chong Ming-Choon Eng were beaten by Bang-eun-Yong-hyun in the second round.
I fear that this may turn out into another Cheah-Soo partnership where one is always critical of the other. The only difference is that Cheah-Soo or Cheah-Yap did produce the goods, in which Chan-Chew had yet to really show much.
