Skip to main content

Coach to withdraw top pair from Malaysian Open if Khe Wei is unfit

Doubtful pair: The participation of Malaysia’s Woon Khe Wei (left) and Vivian Hoo in the Malaysian Open depends on the doctor’s prognosis of the former’s ankle injury. Doubtful pair: The participation of Malaysia’s Woon Khe Wei (left) and Vivian Hoo in the Malaysian Open depends on the doctor’s prognosis of the former’s ankle injury.
 
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s top women’s pair Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei are out of the India Open. And they may find themselves ruled out of the Malaysian Open GP Gold from April 30-May 4 if the doctor does not give the nod for Khe Wei to take part.

Khe Wei, who only returned to action in March after recovering from a nagging knee injury, hurt her ankle during the final of the New Zealand Open last week. It resulted in the pair missing out on their first title of the year.

Although she has recovered from the ankle injury, Khe Wei-Vivian prefer to sit out the India Open and await the doctor’s green light to compete in the Malaysian Open.

“There’s still a bit of pain and I’ll consult the doctor tomorrow. Hopefully, he’ll clear me for action. I hope to be able to compete in the Malaysian Open,” said Khe Wei.

Vivian also added that missing the India Open was not exactly a bad thing as it allowed them some rest and time to catch up on training after featuring in four gruelling tournaments — All-England, Swiss, Australia and New Zealand Opens.

“We’re actually quite tired after all those tournaments ... what we need right now is some rest and time to train and we’ll bounce back stronger,” said Vivian.

Women’s doubles coach Rosman Razak explained that they decided not to send Vivian-Khe Wei to the India Open because the duo had already qualified for the World Championships to be held in Guangzhou in August.

The pair were ranked 30th in the world at the start of March but a string of impressive performances since — quarter-finals in the All-England, semi-finals in the Swiss Open and final in New Zealand — have seen them climb to No. 18 in the world.

“Khe Wei is still not 100% yet, so it’s better not to push her too hard. We do not have that many women’s doubles pairs and it’s our job to protect them from injuries,” said Rosman.

“Although Khe Wei is training normally now, I may still pull them out of the Malaysian Open GP Gold if the doctor does not give her the green light to play.”

Meanwhile, the India Open has been hit by another pullout. But the withdrawal of Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro has greatly benefited young back-up shuttler Iskandar Zulkarnian Zainuddin, who was supposed to start from the qualifiers.

But, as the first reserve, the lanky shuttler has been promoted to the main draw where he will take on a qualifier in the first round today.


THE STAR

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...
1 comment
Read more

Indonesia Choose Komodo Dragon As SEA Games Mascot

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Bernama) -- Host for the 26th SEA Games, Indonesia has chosen the Komodo dragon as mascot for the 2011 Games which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang from Nov 11 to 25. The Indonesia SEA Games Organizing Committee (Inasoc), was qouted by Jakarta Post as saying that a pair of Komodo dragons, a male (Modo) and a female (Modi), were chosen in recognition of the Republic's conservation efforts to protect the dwindling number of the rare lizard. Modo and Modi were unveiled last night at a function in Jakarta, to mark the 200-day countdown before the games open on Nov 11 in Palembang. The Komodo dragons, the largest lizard in the world, only live on the Indonesian islands of Komodo in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara. On Jan 15, Inasoc unveiled its logo, a Garuda eagle, to symbolize the power and grandeur of Indonesia. Indonesia dominated the Games between 1977, when it first competed, and 1997, failing to top the medal charts only twice in that p...
1 comment
Read more