Rexy Mainaky says Mainaky Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif - Hoon Thien show improvement in their partnership
Malaysia’s doubles coach, Rexy Mainaky, is optimistic for the future prospects of Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif and Hoon Thien, despite of the fact that they failed to pass the Men’s Doubles second round of the 2011 World Championships, which is in progress at the Wembley Arena in London.
Mohd Zakry and Hoon Thien delivered a stunning performance in the first round of the mega event, when they thrashed former World Champions, Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach of USA. However they lost their second round match to Lee Sheng Mu and Fang Chieh Min of Taiwan.
The coach is hopeful that the World Number 25 pair of Mohd Zakry and Hoon Thien will become better, as Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat are the top shuttlers in Malaysia and also hold the Number Four rank in the world.
While talking about the performance of Mohd Zakry and Hoon Thien in the world meet, Rexy said, “They played better in the first round (against Americans Tony Gunawan-Howard Bach) than against the Taiwan pair (Fang Chieh Min-Lee Sheng Mu). Thien How, especially, wasn't psyched up enough in the second round and victory was lost.”
The coach further added, “The result aside, I am generally satisfied with their performance as they have shown improvement in their partnership. Zakry-Thien How showed better understanding on court, their defence has improved and so has their mobility on court. These are all positives in their bid to be a strong pair.”
In their second round match against the Taiwanese shuttlers, the Malaysians did not play impressive badminton as they let their opponents dominate the game by making many errors in the match.
The Malaysians could win the match as they were putting up strong fight in the concluding phase of the opening set, but lost it as the Taiwanese shuttlers played better in the end and won the first set with a 26-24 margin.
The second game was also in control of the Malaysians as they were in lead at the ending points. Despite the advantage, they failed to finish the set and the Taiwanese won the game with the tight difference of 21-19. After the performance of the pair, the coach is satisfied and is optimistic for a better performance from Mohd Zakry and Hoon Thien in forthcoming events.
Tags: