Latest news with #WorldTourSuper500
The Star
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Wiser Man-Tee raising ante in bid to win medal at worlds
New rhythm: Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are aiming for strong strides in their second world meet. PETALING JAYA: National men's doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are looking at small details to make a huge impact in the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris. As it will be their second world meet, Wei Chong-Kai Wun have raised the bar higher by setting a medal target. Since making their debuts in the last edition in 2023 in Copenhagen, Wei Chong-Kai Wun have come a long way and are keen to make their marks. The world No. 7 pair reached the third round in Copenhagen before going down in three games to China's Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang and are out to do better this time. Despite their promise in the past few years, Wei Chong-Kai Wun were dogged by inconsistency The duo though are slowly finding their feet this year and captured the World Tour Super 500 Indonesian Masters and Malaysian Masters titles. Wei Chong-Kai Wun have also been steady lately, reaching at least the quarter-finals in all their past five tournaments. 'The World Championships is one of the biggest competitions this year and we want to try to win a medal,' said Kai Wun after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday. 'It won't be easy as we will likely be drawn against one of the top four seeded pairs in the last eight but we hope to overcome whoever we face.' Wei Chong-Kai Wun will be guaranteed at least a bronze if they make it into the last four. The pair, who are hungry for a breakthrough in bigger events, believe small details can be the difference between winning and losing and hope to get it right during matches. 'If you see in the men's doubles, there's not much difference between pairs in the top 20, so small things can make a difference in matches,' said Kai Wun. 'We played well in our last two outings in the Japan Open and China Open but lost in the quarter-finals to the world's top two pairs (world No. 1 South Korea's Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho and world No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik). 'There's not a big gap between us and these two pairs though, so we will keep trying hard to beat them next time.'
The Star
7 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Wei Chong-Kai Wun eyeing a medal in World Championships
PETALING JAYA: Men's doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are eyeing a medal in the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris. Since making their debut in the last edition in 2023 in Copenhagen, Wei Chong-Kai Wun have come a long way and are keen to make their mark. The world No. 7 pair reached the third round in Copenhagen before going down in three games to China's Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang, and aim to do better this time. Despite their promise in the past few years, Wei Chong-Kai Wun have been dogged by inconsistency. The duo are slowly finding their feet this year, capturing the World Tour Super 500 Indonesian Masters and Malaysian Masters titles. Wei Chong-Kai Wun have also been steady lately, reaching at least the quarter-finals in their past five tournaments. "The World Championships are one of the biggest competitions this year and we want to try to win a medal," Kai Wun said after a training session at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara on Tuesday (Aug 5). "It won't be easy as we are likely to be drawn against one of the top four seeds in the last eight, but we hope to overcome whoever we face." Wei Chong-Kai Wun will be guaranteed at least a bronze if they make it into the last four. The pair, who are hungry for a breakthrough in bigger events, believe small details can be the difference between winning and losing, and hope to get it right during matches. "In the men's doubles, there's not much difference between pairs in the top 20, so small things can make a difference in matches," Kai Wun added. "We played well in our last two outings in the Japan Open and China Open, but lost in the quarter-finals to the world's top two pairs (No. 1 South Korea's Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho and No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik). "There's not a big gap between us and these two pairs, though, so we will keep trying hard to beat them next time."
The Star
21-06-2025
- Sport
- The Star
No slowing down
Full steam ahead: Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun hope to build on their performances to achieve better results. PETALING JAYA: A more confident men doubles shuttlers Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are looking to build on their encouraging performances in the second half of the year by reaching the top five in the world. The world No. 7 Wei Chong-Kai Wun already have two titles to their name so far this year – the World Tour Super 500 Indonesian Masters in January and Malaysian Masters last month. The victories have raised the self-belief in them and showed they were no longer dogged by inconsistency as seen over the past few years. 'We are doing better than we had in the last few years. We need to build on our performances,' said Kai Wun. Wei Chong-Kai Wun, who tend to slow down and suffer early round exits in the past after winning a title, did not let up this time following their triumph in the home Masters and went on to reach the quarter-finals in the Singapore Open and last four in the Indonesian Open earlier this month. Now, the duo are eyeing for glory in the Japan Open from July 15-20 and China Open from July 22-27. 'We cannot afford to slow down again in Japan and China. We have one month to prepare for these two tournaments and we have been going through intense training. 'Our focus is on working on our weaknesses that we could see in our last few tournaments.' Wei Chong-Kai Wun's growing confidence also stems from breakthrough wins over Japan's 2021 world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi and India's 2022 Asian Games gold medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in the Malaysian Masters semi-finals and Indonesian Open second round respectively. The Malaysians previously lost twice to Hoki-Kobayashi and four times to the Indians before coming up with the formula to finally defeat their opponents. 'Finding a way to beat these pairs is good for us as we lost to them many times before this,' said Kai Wun. 'We have showed that we have the quality to beat these pairs and now it's about being consistent.' On their next targets, Kai Wun said: 'We are aiming to break into the top five in the world and win Super 750 and 1000 titles. 'We have never done these before, so we want to go all out to achieve these.'
The Star
25-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Li's ‘liberation' – Shifeng says his historic win feels like a good release
KUALA LUMPUR: Li Shifeng (pic) is overjoyed after becoming the first Chinese men's singles player to capture the Malaysian Masters title. World No. 4 Shifeng was in his element when he only needed 36 minutes to beat India's surprise finalist K. Srikanth 21-11, 21-9 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil yesterday. It was a historic victory for the 25-year-old as he became the first shuttler from China to win the men's singles title since the tournament's inception in 2009. Shifeng also celebrated his first title since winning the Japan Masters last November. 'I didn't expect to be the first at this event, because I hadn't really paid attention to who won it before,' said Shifeng. 'It's a very good start for me. I have reached the semi-finals a few times last year but lost. 'And this time, to break through and win the championship, I feel it's an affirmation and encouragement for myself. 'The moment I won, I felt quite a release. Because it's indeed been a long time since I won a championship, or even reached a final. 'So, being able to win this championship, I think it's a release, a kind of liberation.'' Shifeng believes he still has some way to go before he can become one of the top players in the world and is keen to use the World Tour Super 500 title win as a springboard for success in bigger events. 'There's still a big gap with the top-tier players, and I haven't won major titles yet,' said Shifeng. 'So, I still hope that through this 500-level championship, I can further improve and strengthen myself. 'Opponents at higher-level tournaments will definitely be stronger. So, after winning this championship, it's in the past. 'I think, the next one starts again, one tournament after another, it's a new challenge. I hope I can continue to make progress,' added Shifeng. It was a great day for China when Wang Zhiyi (women's singles), Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (women's doubles) and Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (mixed doubles) also emerged victorious in all-Chinese finals. World No. 2 Zhiyi fought hard to beat world No. 3 Han Yue 13-21, 21-13, 21-18 while Shengshu-Tan Ning defeated Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian 21-17, 21-18. Yanzhe-Dongping also proved better on the day than Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin, coming out on top 21-17, 14-21, 21-16 in 63 minutes.
The Star
16-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Nova says Aidil's steady rise in form is good but he must improve stamina
PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin's encouraging progress is timely as Malaysia continue to struggle in the men's singles this year. With national No. 1 Lee Zii Jia still missing from the scene due to an ankle injury and No. 2 Leong Jun Hao searching for consistency, the country badly need someone to step up in the event. Aidil, who reached a career high No. 48 in the world rankings recently, showed good improvement in the Thailand Open where he made it into the second round before going down fighting 21-18, 16-21, 14-21 to China's world No. 14 Lu Guangzu in Bangkok on Thursday. Despite missing out on the biggest win in his career, it was the 25-year-old's best finish in a World Tour Super 500 tourney. Good outing: Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin gave an impressive display despite losing in the second round of the Thailand Open. Aidil's progress is remarkable considering that he was ranked as low as No. 135 when he was dropped by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in 2023. The Selangor player has found a new lease of life under Indonesian coach Nova Armada, who also guides national No. 1 women's singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei and two-time Paralympic champion Cheah Liek Hou. Nova was happy with Aidil's performance in Bangkok and wants his charge to keep pushing himself to reach a higher level. 'Aidil's performance was quite good in Thailand. My target was for him to get past the qualifying rounds first and he surpassed that,' said Nova. 'His fitness is getting better and he has gained in confidence. He is very hardworking and is adapting well to my training programme. 'He still has areas to improve though like his stamina which needs to be even better and he needs to add more variety in his game. 'Against Guangzu, I just told him to not overthink and give him a tough fight. In the second game, he could have won if he pushed himself a bit more. 'He needs to keep working hard and try to break into the world's top 32 rankings by the end of this year,' added Nova. Aidil was the only Malaysian in the men's singles to reach the second round in Bangkok. He is now close to overtaking current national No. 3 Justin Hoh in the rankings with the latter lying at 45. Aidil has another opportunity to prove himself when he competes in the Malaysian Masters starting on Tuesday at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil. He will open his campaign against Taiwan's world No. 65 Huang Yu-kai in the first qualifying round.
