Mohd Zakry - Hoon Thien have good chances to perform well at the World Championships: Badminton news
Malaysia’s Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif and Hoon Thien How secured a good opportunity as one of their major opponents, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, the former World Champions, have withdrawn from the 2011 World Championships.
Markis caught a typhoid fever and cannot participate in the mega event, which has provided a wonderful opportunity to Mohd Zakry and Hoon Thien to make it at least into the quarter-final of the Men’s Doubles category.
With the withdrawal of Indonesia’s top seeds, now, Mohd Ahsan – Bona Septano and Hendra Gunawan – Alven Yulianto will raise the country’s flag in the event. However, the absence of top Indonesian shuttlers has reduced their chances of winning the title in
the Men’s Doubles category at the World Championships.
In the Men’s Doubles first round, Mohd Zakry and Hoon Thien will be up against USA’s Tony Gunawan and Howard Back, who won the Men’s Doubles title at the 2005 World Championships. If the Malaysian duo passed the first hurdle, they will take on Taiwan’s Lee
Sheng Mu and Fang Chieh Min in the second round of the event.
Zakry said, “We had two world champions in our quarter but now one is out. We must seize this opportunity.”
While talking about their matches in the event, Zakry added, “We will play Tony-Howard in the opening round and it is important that we get past them. We may play the Taiwanese pair in the second round and they are a tough pair to beat too.”
He further said, “Thien How and I have worked hard for our first world meet and we hope to go as far as possible. With Markis and Kido out, we now have a chance to reach at least the quarter-finals. We will give it our best shot.”
Mohd Zakry and Hoon Thien, who are currently ranked at Number 25 in the Men’s Doubles world rankings, are confident to reach in the quarter-final stage, as they are optimistic to pass the opening hurdles by playing to their full potential.
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