KUALA LUMPUR – They may not have defeated world class shuttlers but the victory of two Malaysian doubles pairs at the Syed Modi India International championship in Lucknow, India yesterday (Jan 23) is proof that the sport is heading in the right direction in the country.
In fact, women’s doubles player Teoh Mei Xing was quick to point out that Malaysia would never run out of quality shuttlers.
In the finals at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium yesterday, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun clinched the men’s doubles title while Anna Ching-Mei Xing bagged the women’s doubles crown.
Sixth-seeded Wei Chong-Kai Wun defeated India’s eighth-seeded Krishna Garaga-Vishnuvardhan Panjala 21-18, 21-15 in 33 minutes while Anna-Mei Xing, seeded eighth in the tournament, needed only 32 minutes to beat India’s seventh-seeded Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela 21-12, 21-13.
The 25-year-old Mei Xing, fresh from clinching her first title of the year with Anna, pointed out that Malaysia could now count on them and world number 16 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah to chase further glory.
“We still haven’t competed against higher-ranked players and I can’t say we are confident enough to beat them but I believe every player in the women’s doubles department will become stronger,” she said in a video clip shared with the media today.
Meanwhile, Wei Chong was simply elated over their win over Krishna-Vishnuvardhan.
“This was our first Super 300 final. We did not go into it thinking about winning or losing, we just wanted to give our best,” he said.
Wei Chong said that he and Kai Wun hope to further polish up their performance and improve on their current world ranking of 65 by getting into the top 30.
