Yo-yo Fairuzizuan-Zakry get chance to beat Markis-Hendra
Posted by valsus on November 17, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR : There is one last chance for Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif to make amends for a rather frustrating season in international badminton.
And that is to beat Indonesian Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan for the first time at the Laos SEA Games next month.
In the individual draw released yesterday, Fairuzizuan-Zakry are in the same half as the top seeded Indonesians.
The Malaysians have yet to beat the Indonesians in five meetings and the latest was a quarter-final defeat at the French Open last month.
The last assignment of the year for Fairuzizuan-Zakry is the Laos Games. The duo withdrew from the China Open and they missed the cut for the Super Series Masters Finals.
Fairuzizuan said that it had been demoralising for them after going through a roller-coaster ride this year.
Their best effort was a semi-final outing in the World Championships. The previous best was a runners-up finish in last year’s Hong Kong Open.
“Our failure to make the cut for the Masters Finals is a reflection of our performances in Super Series events this year,” said Fairuzizuan.
“And I can think of only one way of salvaging our pride. We have to beat Markis-Hendra this time. It will give us some amount of confidence. There is a chance for us to meet them in the semi-finals in Laos.”
The other half of a 16-pair men’s doubles draw has second seeds Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Indonesians Bona Septano-Mohd Ahsan and Hendra Wijaya-Hendri Kurniawan Saputra.
It is rather surprising that Indonesia have named Bona-Ahsan for the individual competition ahead of the more impressive Yonathan Dasuki Suryatama-Rian Sukmawan.
Meanwhile, Kien Keat-Boon Heong will begin their campaign in the China Open tomorrow against China’s Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan.
