KUALA LUMPUR: BA of Malaysia coaching director Rexy Mainaky is unhappy with the performances of men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei at the Malaysia Masters, describing them as unacceptable.
World No. 4 Aaron-Wooi Yik were eliminated in the quarter-finals, losing 11-21, 21-19, 21-19 to 34th-ranked Jin Yong-Na Sung Seung of South Korea on Friday.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei were ousted in the semi-finals, going down 21-11, 21-19 to professional pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai on Saturday.
Both pairs are part of the Road to Gold (RTG) programme and are bound for the Paris Olympics.
Rexy said both pairs should have taken advantage of the opportunity as the top seeds.
"We must be honest, the defeats of Aaron-Wooi Yik and Tang Jie-Ee Wei are unacceptable.
Aaron-Wooi Yik should have won against Jin Yong-Sung Seung. There was no problem in the first game, but in the second, they looked like they had no spirit, playing as if they had no intention of scoring points.
"I am disappointed not because they lost to the Korean pair but because they lost due to their own mistakes. Overall, I would rate their performance five or six out of ten.
"Tang Jie-Ee Wei also played very poorly in the semi-finals. We did not see any combination as a pair between them, especially Ee Wei, who usually controls the game at the net but failed to do so this time.
"Aaron-Wooi Yik should have had no problem becoming champions, and Tang Jie-Ee Wei also had a very good chance to win," said Rexy.
Commenting on the performance of the women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah, who are also in the RTG, Rexy felt the world No. 13 were good enough to reach the final.
However, second seeds Pearly-Thinaah were no match for world No. 26 Lee Yu Lim-Shin Seung Chan pf South Korea, losing 21-16, 21-11 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
"For Pearly and Thinaah, I can still say that the former had only fully recovered from her back injury a week before the tournament.
"We were hoping they could at least make it to the final, and I believe if they had done so, they would have had a chance to become champions," he said.
With less than two months remaining before the Paris Olympics (July 26-Aug 11), Rexy hopes that all three of the country's top pairs will work on their weaknesses and come back stronger.
"We, the coaches and management, have tried to help reduce pressure, including limiting media sessions to once a week. So, the players must realise they need to do better and learn from their failures in this tournament.
"We cannot just say 'come back stronger' without doing anything. The players need to be aware that the pressure will be higher at the Olympics," he said.
The three pairs will compete in two more tournaments before the Paris Olympics, namely the Singapore Open starting Tuesday and the Indonesia Open from June 4-9.
