PETALING JAYA: A tougher challenge awaits high flying men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun as they seek to maintain their form in the back-to-back Japan Open and China Open.
Coach Herry Iman Pierngadi believes that his charges need to stay on their toes as their rivals will be out to pour cold water on their hot runs.
The expectations are higher on them to get it right at the Japan Open in Tokyo from July 15-20 and China Open from July 22-27 in Changzhou and Herry wants his charges to work even harder to stay ahead of their rivals.
“Maintaining their form for a long period will be much more difficult than fighting to win a few titles,” said Herry.
“Rival countries will definitely analyse our pairs’ game. We are making use of these weeks without tournaments to also improve the players’ physical condition.
“After the Indonesian Open, we gave them three to four days of break to catch a breather. There will definitely be a drop in their physical condition after a hectic period of tournaments but not much.
“Now, we are looking to get the players back to peak fitness,” added Herry.
On Aaron-Wooi Yik and Wei Chong-Kai Wun’s title chances in Japan and China, Herry said: “My job is to prepare them. I can’t guarantee that they will reach the finals in the next tournaments.
“I’m optimistic though that they will be more confident thanks to their good performances.
“In terms of Key Performance Index (KPI), it’s not a must for them to win every tournament but depends on the players. If they are ready and well prepared, of course it’s good for them to win more titles.”
World No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik in particular have been in fine form since April, capturing the Asian Championships, Thailand Open, Singapore Open and finishing runners-up in the Malaysian Masters.
World No. 7 Wei Chong-Kai Wun also did well to beat their teammates to win the title in the home tourney before reaching the Indonesian Open semi-finals.
