All England: Gan-Ong down in the dumps but vow to fight for a spot in world meet

Ready to make amends: Gan Teik Chai (right) and Ong Soon Hock were beaten by Taiwan’s Chen Hung-ling-Lu Chia-bin 12-21, 12-21 in the opening round yesterday.
 
PROFESSIONALS Gan Teik Chai-Ong Soon Hock’s hopes of qualifying for the World Championships suffered a blow after they lost in the opening round of the All-England.
World No. 20 Teik Chai-Soon Hock were toothless in their 12-21, 12-21 loss to Chen Hung-ling-Lu Chia-bin of Taiwan in 27 minutes yesterday.
But the Apacs and KLRC sponsored Teik Chai, who lost an opportunity to compete in the world meet two years ago, has not given up hope and is not ready to let history repeat itself.
Teik Chai has not forgotten the ugly episode involving him and former partner Tan Bin Shen. Then, the duo had qualified on merit for the world meet but the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) sent another pair – ranked lower than them – instead.
This time, however, BAM have made it clear that only the top three pairs based on the order of ranking will get to go for the world meet in Guangzhou in August.
Teik Chai admitted that they played well below par but vowed to bounce back and make quick amends in the next three tournaments – in Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia.
“Soon Hock and I may not have been at our best but we believe the challenge to qualify as one of the three pairs from Malaysia is still wide open,” said Teik Chai.
There are five pairs in the top 24 bracket and only three will get to go. A country is allowed to have a maximum of three pairs if all are in the top 24 by end of April.
Three pairs are ahead of Teik Chai-Soon Hock. They are Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (No. 2), Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong (No. 10) and Lim Khim Wah-Goh V Shem (No. 18).
“Khim Wah-V Shem are not too far ahead of us. A lot of things can change in the next two months and Soon Hock and I are determined to get it right,” said Teik Chai.
Polish Open champions and world No. 34 Lukasz Moren-Wojciech Szkudlarczyk pulled off a remarkable upset when they dumped fifth seeds and German Open champions Hong Wei-Shen Ye of China 19-21, 21-19, 22-20 in the men’s doubles firs round.
Hong Wei-Shen Ye stole the thunder at last year’s All-England when they defeated Kien Keat-Boon Heong in the second round.
The unseeded Polish pair will take on Hung-ling-Chia-bin today.
Meanwhile, it was the end of road for the Ng sisters of Hui Lin-Hui Ern in the women’s doubles after losing 15-21, 16-21 to top seeds Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang of China.
Courtesy of The Star