KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s doubles professional pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi have played Indonesian world number one Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto nine times and have emerged victorious just three times.
So, no one can blame the eighth-seeded Malaysians if they go into tomorrow’s quarter-finals against the Indonesians in the 2023 Malaysia Open with trepidation.
But that’s not the mindset the Malaysian pair will be adopting. Instead, they are hoping that the vociferous support of the home fans can inspire them to pull off a shock at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil here.
“Because we are playing on home ground, the fans’ cheers will boost our confidence and we will be more focused. We will definitely be on fire!,” said Yew Sin.
“We will discuss with our coach the best strategy to adopt for tomorrow’s match,” said Yew Sin.
For the record, the three times that Yew Sin-Ee Yi upstaged Fajar-Muhammad Rian were the 2018 All-England Championships, 2019 Hong Kong Open and the BWF World Tour Finals in Bangkok, Thailand last month.
Earlier, the Malaysians, bronze medallists at the 2021 World Championships in Huelva, Spain, had to slog for 85 minutes to down Taiwan’s Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han 17-21, 21-13, 21-14 in the round of 16 of the Malaysia Open. – Bernama