World Junior Championships: Nelson-Teo bury chokers’ tag with perfect show

or Nelson Heg Wei Keat-Teo Ee Yi, the thought of being dubbed as chokers was unbearable.
And driven to make a point, the duo gave a spotless performance to upstage top seed and Asian junior champions Huang Po-jui-Lin Chia-yu of Taiwan 21-17, 21-17 in the boys’ doubles final of the World Junior Championships in Taiwan yesterday.
Besides the Asian junior meet in India this year, they had also crashed out in the final of last year’s world junior meet.

Driven duo: Malaysia’s Nelson Heg Wei Keat (right) and Teo Ee Yi posing with the World Junior Championships doubles trophy Sunday.

Wei Keat was happy that they were able to bid farewell to their junior careers in style.
“We were determined not to make the mistakes of the past. At the Asian junior meet, we were over-confident and lacked focus. It saw us going down to the Taiwanese. Today, we were ready for them,” said an elated Wei Keat in a telephone interview yesterday.
“We proved that we can win in major tournaments and that means a lot to us.
“I missed my mother Yeoh Suh Nei’s birthday on Nov 4 and this title is my belated birthday gift for her.”
Ee Yi said that he was choked with emotion after breaking the jinx of losing in the finals and hoped that they could continue with their rise in the senior rank.

The duo will be under the charge of South Korean coach Yoo Yong-sung now that their junior days are over.
“This is really satisfying. We can now leave the junior ranks with a lot of confidence,” said Ee Yi.
“We will be promoted to the back-up squad now.
“It will not be easy in the senior ranks but we aim to become the country’s top pair like Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in two years,” he added.
Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) doubles chief coach Yap Kim Hock was a proud man yesterday. It was his third world junior title with winning pairs after Ow Yao Han-Chooi Kah Ming (2009) and Yao Han-Yew Hong Kheng (2010).
“Our boys deserve a big pat on their backs. They worked hard and now, they reap their reward,” said Kim Hock.
“I just hope that this pair will be given time to prove their worth in the senior team. Hopefully, no swapping of partners will take place.
“They have proved themselves in the junior ranks. It is only fair to give them a chance to come good in the senior ranks.”
In the past, many of Malaysia’s world junior champion pairs sank into oblivion because of the heavy mix and match exercises.
Courtesy of The Star