Doubles shuttler Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif is getting a shot by default to represent Malaysia at the world championships.
And he has vowed to achieve his best results with Hoon Thien How to repay the faith the coaches have in them for the championships, which will be held in London from Aug 8-14.
The world No. 27 ranked pair did not make the cut for the championships at the end of the qualifying period. But the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in a controversial move selected them at the expense of former national shuttlers Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen.
The coaches felt that Zakry-Thien How will have the better chance of making their presence felt compared to the Apac and KLRC-sponsored pair.
Teik Chai-Bin Shen qualified on merit as the second Malaysian pair among the top 24 qualifiers to compete in the championships after Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong.
“It was really a big surprise for me when I found out that Hoon and I have been selected for the world meet. I had already given up hope and was pondering over my future plans with Thien How,” said Zakry.
“Coach (Rexy Mainaky) confirmed that Thien How and I will be going. We now have to go all out to do our best to justify the faith that the coaches have in us.”
Zakry’s best outing in the world championships was a semi-final finish with former partner Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari in Hyderabad in 2009.
“I competed twice with Fairuzizuan (2007 in Kuala Lumpur and 2009 in Hyderabad) and we did well in India. We fought well before going down to the Chinese pair (Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng). This will be my first outing in the championships with Thien How and we hope to go as far as possible,” he said.
Zakry teamed up with Thien How last September when his partnership with Fairuzizuan hit a plateau after the Thomas Cup Finals in Kuala Lumpur.
“It took us some time to hit it off. But we are playing better now. Our problem is our weak finish towards the end of a match. We tend to make mistakes in our haste to win,” he said.
This was evident when Zakry-Thien How were levelled 19-19 against Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark in the quarter-finals of the All-England in March. The Malaysians buckled while the Danes went on to win their maiden All-England title.
“Thien How and I are determined not this waste this opportunity to prove ourselves in the world championships. We are bound to meet seeded players in the early round and we will be ready for them,” said Zakry.
Courtesy of The Star
