Badminton: Fairuz and Zakry get wild card for the world meet By LIM TEIK HUAT PETALING JAYA: The newly-formed doubles combination of Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Latif were the surprise picks for the World Championships to be held in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 13-19. Doubles head coach Rexy Mainaky has opted to give the wild card entry to Fairuzizuan-Mohd Zakry and they will join the veteran pair of Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and All-England champions Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong to form Malaysia’s doubles challenge at the world meet. The inclusion of Fairuzizuan-Zakry comes in the wake of their impressive performance in the Indonesian Open last week. The duo surprised everybody by reaching the final. En route to the final, they stunned Danes Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen and the experienced Indonesian-American combination of Candra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan, the defending champions. In the final, Fairuzizuan-Zakry put up a fighting display before losing 17-21, 20-22 to world number one and top seeds Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China. Fairuzizuan-Zakry reached the semi-finals in their first outing – in the Asian Badminton Championships in Johor Baru and were quarter-finalists in the Singapore Open. Fairuzizuan-Zakry, ranked a lowly 80th in the world, were certainly surprised that they had been picked over the more established combination of Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock, the country’s third ranked pair. Bin Shen-Soon Hock, ranked 17th in the world, were not among the list of eligible qualifiers under Phase 1 when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) made the cut-off on April 30. Malaysia have yet to win the world title and expectations are on the men’s doubles pairs to end the drought this time. Fairuzizuan and Zakry were both surprised to have earned a place in the world meet. “We are still a new pair. It never crossed my mind that we can get to play in the World Championships. I never thought about this at all when we were first paired off because we wanted to improve ourselves first,” said Zakry. Fairuzizuan said: “I did not expect this. This is a surprise to me.” Under the regulations for the world meet, the host country can nominate a wild card entry for all events. BAM decided to hand out wild card entries for the men’s and women’s singles events to Roslin Hashim and promising youngster Lydia Cheah respectively. Roslin, of Nusa Mahsuri, is the fourth highest ranked Malaysian shuttler in the world rankings. Indonesian Open champion Lee Chong Wei, Mohd Hafiz Hashim and KLRC Berhad player Lee Tsuen Seng, the top three highest ranked Malaysians in the world rankings, complete the men’s singles squad. Malaysia's squad for the World Championships Men’s singles: Lee Chong Wei, Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Lee Tsuen Seng, Roslin Hashim (wild card). Women’s singles: Wong Mew Choo, Julia Wong, Lydia Cheah (wild card). Men’s doubles: Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Latif (wild card). Women’s doubles: Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui, Lim Pek Siah-Joanne Quay, Fong Chew Yen-Ooi Sock Ai (wild card). Mixed doubles: Joanne Quay-Daniel Shirley (Nzl); Tan Wee Kiong-Woon Khe Wei (wild card).
The article is somewhat wrong. Malaysia can have 4 MD pairs (including wild card). The third qualified-on-merit pair should be Tan BS/Ong SH. Malaysia can also have 3 XD pairs. In fact, Tan WK/Woon KW, by virtue of being ranked in the top 150, can even qualify on merit and let another pair be the wild card.
The selections for WS and WD are pretty obvious. Mooi/Ooi could stake a claim for Fong/Ooi's place, but neither pair would make much headway anyway. Selection for MD also obvious. The article should be incorrect. Tan/Ong should be included. XD also should have one more pair. I agree with the two pairs now selected. For the last pair, I think they should just hold a mini-tournament and select the winner. I, however, disagree with the MS selection. I think Wong CH should be used as a wild card, and Roslin should be the third merited player instead of Lee TS. For me, Wong CH remains Malaysia's top 3 player. Roslin and Lee TS should fight it out for the last spot.
Agreed. Maybe should wait for the outcome of the NZ open to see who wud emerge as the top MS amongst them.
the complete list will be listed after the second phase of qualifying... apparently bin shen-soon hock is not listed because zakry-teck chai old ranking is higher den them during the first phase of qualifying done by BWF
WCH instead of Roslin should have been given a wild card. WCH deserved a place in the WC. I really want to see LCW and KKK/TBH doing well in WC.
http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/5/22/sports/17797062&sec=sports Badminton: Bin Shen-Soon Hock set to see action at World Championships By LIM TEIK HUAT KUANTAN: Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock, who lifted the Pahang Open title on Sunday, are set to become the fourth Malaysian men's doubles pair for the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 13-19. The duo were not included in the Malaysian squad named for the World Championships last week. Asian Championships gold medallists Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and All-England champions Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, currently ranked second and fourth in the world respectively, got the automatic berths. The newly-forged combination of Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Latif, who emerged as runners-up in the recent Indonesian Open, were given a wild card entry. Each country can be represented by three pairs in the World Championships if they are ranked inside the top 24. As hosts, Malaysia are also given a wild card, making them eligible to field four pairs in the championships. National head coach Yap Kim Hock said yesterday Bin Shen-Soon Hock would certainly get a chance to strut their stuff in the World Championships. “Bin Shen-Soon Hock were not included by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) under the Phase 1 list of qualifiers for the World Championships. Tan Fook-Wan Wah, Kien Keat-Boon Heong and Gan Teik Chai-Mohd Zakry Latif were on the list. However, Teik Chai-Zakry are no longer playing together and we have informed the BWF of this development. “We have already submitted Bin Shen-Soon Hock's names to the BWF to be considered for an automatic berth to replace Zakry-Teik Chai. There should be no problem since they were ranked 17th on the Phase I list when the cut-off mark was made based on the April 30 world rankings list,” said Kim Hock. Kim Hock said having four doubles pairs would strengthen Malaysia's bid for success in the World Championships. “We hope one pair can go on to win the world title. Besides Kien Keat-Boon Heong and Wan Wah-Tan Fook, we have Fairuzizuan-Zakry. Fairuzizuan-Zakry have already impressed after just three tournaments. We are not surprised by their good form judging from their performances in training. “Bin Shen-Soon Hock are good attacking players. They, however, need to improve on their defensive play,” added Kim Hock. Bin Shen-Soon Hock, who are currently ranked 14th in the world, showed they are up to the task for the World Championships by beating World Championships-bound Tan Fook-Wan Wah and Fairuzizuan-Zakry en route to winning the Pahang Open title on Sunday. They defeated Fairuzizuan-Zakry and top seeds Tan Fook-Wan Wah in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively. In the final, Bin Shen-Soon Hock chalked up a convincing 21-17, 21-10 win over the former national pair of Chew Choon Eng-Hong Chien Hun. For the record, Bin Shen-Soon Hock won the Pahang Open when it was last held in 2005.
sounds like a very strong MD contingent, hopefully it'll provide some results. as for MS, well, i think BAM might be trying to appease Roslin for not including him in the SO and IO, i'm not sure who's the better of the 2 at the moment, would have been nice to find out if either had beaten Tedjono in the NZ Open.
nah, that'd be boring, i always prefer to watch matches between different countries, you normally get more exciting games that way.
It'll be an impossible dream.... however, if it happens, wow we'll sweep all the medals at stake... boredom becomes another issue for the Malaysian fans
i hope that the semis will field one pair from each countries.. Chn, Mas, Ina and Kor/Den that'll be fun!!!
MAS will have 4 MD pairs in WC Malaysia will have the full complement of four men’s doubles pairs in the World Championships at Putra Stadium from Aug 13-19. The World Badminton Federation (WBF) have confirmed the entries of Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock in the final list of qualifiers for the world meet. Ranked 13th in the world currently, Bin Shen-Shoon Hock were not included in the Malaysian squad last month because WBF regarded the now-disbanded Gan Teik Chai-Mohd Zakry Latif as Malaysia's third ranked pair. Bin Shen-Soon Hock were ranked one spot behind Teik Chai-Zakry (17th in the world) at that time. Ong Soon Hock (left) and Tan Bin Shen sealed their place in the Malaysian squad for the world meet in August. All-England champions Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Asian Championships gold medallists Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, currently ranked second and fourth in the world respectively, got the automatic berths earlier. The new pairing of Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Zakry, who emerged as runners-up in the recent Indonesian Open, were given a wild card entry. A country can have three pairs in the World Championships if they are ranked inside the top 24. But Malaysia as the hosts, were also allowed to nominate a wild card. Full story
Guess anything can happen, but more of an impossible dream and too far-fetched for MAS to sweep all medals, we should respect the opposition especially CHN for their powerhouse contingent...if MAS were to meet in the finals, boredom is not only for MAS fans but for many fans world wide as well...just look at WC06 in Spain when all-CHN finals in MS, WS, etc...that is not healthy and no intensity for fan interest. I agree with any earlier post that inter-nation competing in finals would be more exciting, but in women events, more likely to see all CHN finals...that seems predictable.
