The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Goh sees partnership with Lim blossoming
- Badminton: Four pairs urged to nail tough first-round ties
- Sweet Jupha sets her sights on making history for Perlis
| Goh sees partnership with Lim blossoming Posted: 01 Jun 2011 07:18 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: They have played in only five badminton tournaments together. But Goh Wei Shem is confident that his men's doubles partnership with Lim Khim Wah will soon blossom, starting with the Thailand Open GP Gold, which will be held in Bangkok from June 7-12. Wei Shem-Khim Wah made their debut at the Proton Malaysia International Challenge in Sabah last year when national doubles back-up coach Tan Kim Her chose to field an experimental pair. However, a serious knee injury to Teo Kok Siang, who was then Wei Shem's regular partner, ruled the former out for at least six months and left Wei Shem without a partner in the back-up squad. Wei Shem renewed his partnership with Khim Wah after the latter was split from Chan Peng Soon and the duo enjoyed a good run in April, reaching the quarter-finals of the Asian Championships (ABC) before losing to China's Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng. They also did well in the earlier New Zealand International Challenge and the Kuala Lumpur Open, reaching the semi-finals and final. They also played in the Malaysian Open GP Gold last month and were eliminated in the first round. "I am aware that criticism will soon come because Khim Wah and I have not really been producing the best of results," said the 22-year-old Wei Shem. "We have only played in one other tournament after the ABC appearance and lost in the first round. But as a pair, we are gradually improving with better communication and understanding on court. "I am confident that we will soon start to produce good results. "We have set ourselves a semi-final target in the Thailand Open next week." However, it is easier said than done as the world No. 83 pair will face sixth seeds and world No. 11 Cho Gun-woo-Kwon Yi-goo of South Korea in the first round. If they clear the hurdle, they will play against either Patipat Chalardchalaem-Maneepong Jongjit of Thailand or another Korean pair, Kim Ki-jung-Shin Baek-cheol. Another Korean pair, world No. 4 Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong are in the same half of the draw. "It is not an easy draw at all and it could be another first-round exit for us. We will do our best and hope that we can pull through," said Wei Shem. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Badminton: Four pairs urged to nail tough first-round ties Posted: 01 Jun 2011 07:17 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: National back-up squad men's doubles coach Tan Kim Her has one instruction to his charges competing in the Thailand Open GP Gold in Bangkok next week – win their first match. He has four pairs in the fray – Ow Yao Han-Chooi Kah Ming, Goh Wei Shem-Lim Khim Wah, Chan Peng Soon-Tan Wee Kiong and Mak Hee Chun-Yew Hong Kheng. And none of them face an easy ride in the first round. Yao Han-Kah Ming will face seventh seeds Ingo Kindervater-Johannes Schoettler of Germany while Wei Shem-Khim Wah are up against sixth seeds Cho Gun-woo-Kwon Yi-goo of South Korea. Hee Chun-Hong Kheng will even have to play two rounds in the qualifying tournament to earn their place in the main draw. Nevertheless, Kim Her is positive that his boys will be able to do well in the tournament. "My instruction to them is simple. Get past the first round match and reaching the quarter-finals or semi-finals shouldn't be a problem," he said. "And my best bets to go far in the tournament are Yao Han-Kah Ming, who are one of the most improved pairs. "They are up against a German pair and they just need to step up their game on the day itself to win the match." Meanwhile, there was a surprise when Hee Chun, who has recovered from a shoulder injury, was paired up with Hong Kheng for the tournament. Hee Chun previously partnered Wee Kiong but that partnership has taken a turn for the worse due to a lack of understanding and it was understood that the Thailand Open GP Gold would serve as the last chance for them to save the partnership. For now, Kim Her has chosen instead to split the duo but will give them a chance in the Singapore Open Super Series from June 14-19. "I just want to let them play instead of keeping them by the sidelines," said Kim Her. "Hee Chun-Wee Kiong were quite good and they still have a world ranking (No. 51) and I want them to make full use of a bigger tournament to revive their partnership." Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Sweet Jupha sets her sights on making history for Perlis Posted: 01 Jun 2011 07:16 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Jupha Somnet has a sweet face and a disarming smile but she prefers to be known for her cycling skills on the track. And Jupha, who is of Thai-Malay parentage, has her eyes set on making history for Perlis in Sukma (Malaysia Games) track cycling at the Cheras Velodrome here this weekend. Jupha, who turned 18 last month, has more reasons to be inspired on track as it could well be the last time she competes as a sprinter. Jupha will be switching her focus to track endurance and she hopes to end her gold medal drought in Sukma. "Specific fitness tests were done on me and the findings pointed to a better career for me if I focus on the endurance races," she said. "I'm willing to give my best shot to make it happen as I want to be a top-class cyclist like Anna Meares of Australia. "She is also someone I admire for what she has done for women's cycling (Meares is an Olympic, world and Commonwealth champion). "Malaysia do not have a good track endurance cyclist at the moment and that is something for me to work on." Jupha goes into the Sukma competitions as a firm favourite based on her achievements in the Asian junior championships in Korat early this year. She underlined her versatility with five medals, four silvers and a bronze, from the sprint and endurance disciplines. "I am expected to race in all the individual events. I believe I have good chances to take gold in the sprint, scratch, points and 3km individual pursuit," said Jupha, who is making her third appearance for Perlis in Sukma. "But competition will be stiff as the other national back-up cyclists, among them Ummi Hamimah (Terengganu) and Lauretta Eva Adrian (Sabah), are also strong contenders. "In fact, Lauretta was my team-mate when we won Malaysia's first-ever silver medal in team pursuit at the Asian Juniors this year." Perlis will certainly welcome any golden performance as it does not come often to them. They won six gold medals at the Games in Malacca last year. The cycling events contested for men and women from June 4-7 are individual pursuit, team pursuit, scratch, points race, time trial, sprint, team sprint and keirin. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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