Go forth and make history

Wednesday, 05 August 2009

By RAJES PAUL They may have gone down different paths in their careers but former national women’s doubles pair Lim Pek Siah-Chor Hooi Yee have one common wish for their former team-mates and current world No. 1 Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty. They want Eei Hui-Pei Tty to do better than them and create history at the world championships which will be held in Hyderabad, India, from Aug 10-16. Pek Siah and Hooi Yee believes that Super Series Masters Final champions Eei Hui-Pei Tty have what it takes to make a breakthrough. Eei Hui-Pei Tty have equalled the feat of Pek Siah and Hooi Yee by reaching the last eight three times at the world meets in United States (2005), Madrid (2006) and Kuala Lumpur (2007). Pek Siah and Hooi Yee were the first Malaysians to reach the women’s doubles quarter-finals in the world championships in Glasgow in 1997. They, however, left the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in 2003 to join KLRC Bhd. Now, they are on their own. The 30-year-old Pek Siah has been sparring with Eei Hui-Pei Tty for the last two weeks at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara. “I will be playing for a professional club in Japan (Tricky Panda) in September in Osaka. I have the permission from Rexy (Mainaky) to spar with Eei Hui-Pei Tty,” said Pek Siah. “I am proud of their achievements so far. They have done well to raise the image of the women’s doubles. “I think, they have quite a good draw. And I hope that they will take advantage.” Seeded top for the first time, Eei Hui-Pei Tty are in the same half with fourth seeds Ha Jung-eun-Kim Min-jung of South Korea; fifth seeds Du Jing-Yu Yang of China; 11th seeds Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna of Ja­­pan and 13th seeds Nitya Krishin­da Maheswari-Greysia Polii of Indonesia. “They are expected to take on Du Jing-Yu Yang in the quarter-finals. They are not that good as they have not played for a while. But the pair from Japan could be tough,” said Pek Siah. The Malaysians may meet Miyuki-Satoko in the third round. Hooi Yee, who recently became the first women shuttler to open her own badminton shop – Hooi Yee Sport in Taman Maluri – also feels that Eei Hui-Pei Tty could get the monkey off their backs. “Eei Hui-Pei Tty were ranked as the third pair when Pek Siah and I were at the top. They certainly have come a long way,” said Hooi Yee. “It will be a proud moment for all the women’s doubles players if Eei Hui-Pei Tty can clear the quarter-finals for the first time. They have done well as a pair so far and I wish them the best of luck.” Eei Hui-Pei Tty, the 2008 Danish Open champions, are certainly working extra hard to make an impact in their fifth world meet. They will leave with the national team for Hyderabad on Friday. Courtesy of The Star