KUALA LUMPUR: National doubles chief coach Yap Kim Hock has had a change of heart. The coach, who wrote off the former national number one pair of Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng after their French Open semi-final defeat, has now decided that the pair have a chance to make it to the Olympics after all. And he wants them to make a last-ditch bid in the next three international tournaments – the back-to-back Korean and Japan Opens and the Asian Badminton Championships from April 20-25 at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium The duo leave today for the East Asian meets. The US$200,000 Korean Open will start on Wednesday at Choongju City and will be followed by the US$180,000 Japan Open in Tokyo. Both five-star tournaments offer Olympic ranking points. Kim Hock had earlier believed that the duo’s chances had gone bust after the Paris failure. But after some calculations on the world rankings, Kim Hock said there was an outside chance of the duo squeezing into the Olympics. Only the top 16 pairs when the qualifying period ends are assured of places in the Olympics. However, a total of 19 pairs will compete in the men’s doubles, including wildcards. Also, only three pairs are allowed from any country so, if China or Indonesia, for instance, have four pairs in the top 16, the 17th ranked pair would get a place. Despite their last four defeat in France, Chong Ming-Choon Eng moved up three rungs to 34th place in the world standings. “They have competed in only seven tournaments so far while many other pairs, who are ranked better than them have played more than 10 tournaments. Only the best 10 tournament results will be used to determine a pair’s world ranking,” said Kim Hock. “Even a first round defeat in the Korean Open will earn them 120 points. That’s a lot. And if they are consistent in the next three tournaments, they can improve their world ranking,” Kim Hock said. However, the coach hopes the duo will go better than a first-round finish. “They can finish among the top 20 in the world if they can reach at least the last 16 of the Korean and Japan Opens and do better than a quarter-final finish in the ABC. Let’s keep our fingers crossed,” he added.
