Fairuzizuan and Zakry seek Swiss high after luckless run
Posted by valsus on March 9, 2009
PETALING JAYA: National men’s doubles shuttlers Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari will be going to next week’s Swiss Open hoping to end their luckless run.
Fairuzizuan fell ill a day before their All-England quarter-finals, which resulted in the Malaysians losing 9-21, 20-22 to South Koreans Hwang Ji-man-Han Sang-hoon on Friday.
In January, the duo had to withdraw from the Malaysian Open due to Zakry’s knee injury.
Zakry hopes that they will be able to show their true form at the Swiss Open, where they are seeded fourth.
“This has not been a good year for us, so far. We had a dream draw in the All-England but we failed to capitalise on it,” said Zakry in a telephone interview from Birmingham.
“It is unfortunate that Fairuzizuan got sick. He was down with flu and was coughing badly. We probably could have given the Koreans a better fight if Fairuzizuan was in better condition.
“Still, we gave our best but the Koreans were able to break the rhythm of our game. We certainly came here with a high hopes of doing well in the All-England.”
Zakry is now hoping for a change of fortune at the Swiss Open.
“The draw is tougher for us in the Swiss Open but this is an immediate opportunity for us to make amends. It does matter how far we go but it is important to play to our best,” said Zakry.
“We hope that we will be in the best condition to accomplish the mission in Basel.”
Their first test will be against Japan’s Shintaro Ikeda-Shuichi Sakamoto. In the same quarter are China’s former world champions Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng.
Besides winning two Super Series titles in Singapore and Indonesia last year, Zakry and Fairuzizuan’s other memorable outing was beating Cai Yun-Haifeng in the first round of the China Open in 2007. Then, the Chinese were the world number one pair while the Malaysians were just making their way to the top.
Apart from Zakry-Fairuzizuan, Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong will also be eyeing a quick rebound at Basel after a going down meekly to Denmark’s Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen in the last eight of the All-England.
The second-seeded Kien Keat-Boon Heong are in the same half with Zakry-Fairuzizuan in the lower half of the draw.
