There could be a scratch Malaysian pair against South Korea, says Doubles head coach Tan Kim Her
Malaysia’s national head coach for Doubles said that there could be a scratch pair from Malaysia in Men’s Doubles battle against South Korea in the last match of Group D at Thomas Cup Preliminary Round in Macau, on Wednesday, February 15.
Kim Her is satisfied with the performance of top pair Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in their match against Hong Kong yesterday, when the shuttlers played flawless badminton and won the fight without facing any trouble from their opponents.
However, the World Number Six Kien Keat and Boon Heong have never won against Korea’s Yoo Yeon Seong and Ko Sung Hyun in their last six head-to-head meetings.
Considering this, the coach does not want to take risk of fielding them against the Korean duo. That’s why he wants a scratch pair to compete in the match.
Goh V Shem – Lim Khim Wah, another Malaysian pair will play the second Men’s Doubles contest. But they are not assured of playing together as the coach intends to make some changes in Doubles pairs.
While talking about the performance of Malaysian pairs against Hong Kong, Kim Her said that they did well and have provided the coaches with many options against Korea.
He said, "I am happy with the way our two pairs played and this gives us a lot of options. I have not finalised whether we will play a scratch pair. We will have a meeting before coming to a conclusion. V Shem-Khim Wah also play well in team events and we
have to consider them against South Korea."
He further added, "There could be a scratch pair. I haven't finalised the line-up as we have until tomorrow (today) to do so. We only play in the evening (6.30pm).”
The coach has not yet decided as who will be two pairs to compete in the match against Korea.
However, one thing is certain, if Malaysian shuttlers want to avoid a quarter-final clash against Indonesia, then they must win this group match against Korea.
The winner between Malaysia and Korea will get top position in the Group D and will have an easier quarter-final match against India.
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