Vivian Kah Mun Hoo – Woon Khe Wei, a hope for Malaysia in Women’s Doubles category – Badminton news
A visible improvement in the game of Vivian Kah Mun Hoo and Woon Khe Wei brought them in the limelight as they clinched their first ever title in an open event at last week’s 2011 Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold. Their performance has given a ray of hope
to the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in the category of Women’s Doubles.
Malaysia has been facing a dearth of players in the Women’s Doubles category as only Wong Pei Tty and Chin Eei h*i have been serving the country for many years.
At the Grand Prix Gold event in Indonesia, Vivian and Khe Wei made their presence felt to the seeded shuttlers when they defeated higher ranked Chinese pair of Pan Pan and Cheng Shu in three games at the quarter-final stage. The Malaysians stunned the Chinese
players by winning the battle with a 21-15, 18-21 and 21-18 score on the board.
In the semi-final of the championship, Vivian and Khe Wei played flawless badminton and crushed Punyada Munkitchokecharoen and Sujitra Ekmongkolpaisarn of Thailand by a stunning margin of 21-12 and 21-13.
In the title match, the Malaysian duo faced China’s in-form Zhong Qianxin and Bao Yixin, who clinched the title at the 2011 Japan Open Super Series. Vivian and Khe Wei played to their maximum potential against the Chinese shuttlers and surprised everyone
by beating their rivals by the margin of 19-21, 21-19 and 21-18.
World Number 60 ranked pair, Vivian and Khe Wei won the title which ended Malaysia’s long title drought which lasted for almost two years. Women’s Doubles coach, Rexy Mainaky said, “It’s a good win for Khe Wei-Vivian and it’s a promising performance but
there is still room for them to improve.”
However, the coach added, “I don’t want the success of winning a title to get to their heads. They must not lose their focus and discipline. Khe Wei and Vivian need to maintain their consistency and carry on with a good training attitude and discipline if
they are to become a top pair in the future.”
Vivian and Khe Wei are expected to replace the experienced pair of Pei Tty and Eei h*i, as the senior shuttlers are expected to retire after the 2012 London Olympics.
Tags: