KUALA LUMPUR – Aiming to be the second men’s doubles pair representing the nation at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in July, independent duo Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi have been earmarked to take part in 10 tournaments until the end of the qualifying period in April.
The pair’s coach Rosman Razak said if they could qualify for the Olympics early, the volume of the tournaments they take part in could be reduced.
At the moment, on the Badminton World Federation’s Race to Paris rankings, former world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are in the fourth position.
The top 16 pairs in the rankings will qualify for the Olympics, but for a country to qualify two pairs for the Summer Games, both must be ranked in the top eight.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi is currently in 11th place with 58,200 points – 12,339 points behind Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto who occupy eighth place.
“Everyone chasing after a spot in the top eight is going to compete in the same tournaments.
“Countries like Indonesia and South Korea are working hard to qualify a second pair for Paris.
“The competition for the top eight slots is intense as six to seven pairs are vying for it.
“So we plan for Yew Sin and Ee Yi to play in 10 tournaments until the qualifying period ends in April. If they play well and qualify early, we will review the amount of tournaments that they will play,” Rosman told Scoop when contacted.
The world number 12 ranked pair will start their quest at the Super 1000 Malaysian Open starting on Tuesday held at Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, facing world number 23 pair Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han of Chinese Taipei in the opening round.
Rosman said for the past four weeks, he has focused on getting Ee Yi into tip-top shape after he struggled with an injury at the back end of last season.
“For the last six months of 2023, Ee Yi has been struggling with an injury and we didn’t have time for him to recover from it properly as they were taking part in a lot of tournaments to qualify for Paris.
“We only had four weeks to address his injury, which was not enough.
“But I’m grateful that Ee Yi’s injury is getting better and we will plan our tactics accordingly,” added the former Philippines head coach.
The country’s challenge in the men’s doubles at the season opener will also be shouldered by Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and third seed Aaron-Wooi Yik. – January 7, 2024