It was a rusty start for national no.1 men doubles pair, Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong in the Jakarta World Championships as they prevailed over a stubborn Philip Chew and Sattawat Pongnairat of the United States in the first round, yesterday.
The US pair surprised everyone by pushing the match to a rubber set after winning the second game, but eventually admitted defeat to the Malaysians 21-8, 18-21, and 21-9.
Speaking to the New Straits Times after their match, V Shem said the match was not a challenging one for them, but their mistakes led their opponents to take advantage and took it to the deciding set.
“Overall this match shows our capabilities at an international level. We lost concentration in the second game and made unforced errors. It gave us valuable inputs, and hopefully we can improve with it in our next match.”
The world no. 14 pair will take on defending champions Ko Sung Hyun-Shin Baek Choel of South Korea in the second round later today.
“Wee Kiong and I have a good track record against Korean pairs and we hope to maintain it. There is no pressure being the only Malaysian pair by the way, we are here to give our best.”
It is noted that V Shem and Wee Kiong are the only representatives of Malaysia in the men doubles category, this time out.
Other posts by Tharshanan Manoharan
