Kuala Lumpur: With a month to go until the 2022 Thomas & Uber Cup finals that will take place in Bangkok, from May 8 to May 15, the doubles coaching director of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) – Rexy Mainaky was excited with World No. 11 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi’s recent performance. Ong/Teo have been selected alongside World No.8 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, and World No. 16 Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin to compete in the men’s doubles event at the 2022 Thomas Cup Finals.
Mainaky told Malaysian media that he was hoping Ong/Teo who are currently competing at the Korea Open could skip the tournament and train with the Malaysian Thomas Cup squad in Kuala Lumpur, but he completely understood that Ong/Teo had already committed to compete in Korea.
“Actually, I hope that all the doubles players in the Thomas Cup squad could skip the Korea Open and stay in the country to prepare for the Thomas Cup Finals, but Ong/Teo had already registered for the tournament a while ago,” said Mainaky.
“Ong/Teo did well in the 3 tournaments that were held in Europe last month, I hope they could use Korea Open as part of their preparation for the Thomas Cup,” added Mainaky.
Ong/Teo who defeated India’s Bokka Navaneeth/Reddy B. Sumeeth in the Korea Open first round will play Indonesia’s former World Junior champions Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin on Thursday.
In an interview with Badminton World Federation (BWF), Ong/Teo said that even though they are currently playing as an independent pair, they didn’t feel any difference as they are still competing for Malaysia.
Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi’s interview with BWF:
“It didn’t matter if we were in the national team or independent players. We just did our part,” said Teo.
Ong told BWF that they have more flexibility in managing their own time as an independent player.
“As an independent player, we have full control of our time, which means more free time,” said Ong.
“We used to stay in the BAM’s hostel, but now, we’re staying at home. Therefore, self-discipline is very important,” added Ong.
