KUALA LUMPUR: With age catching up, coach Rosman Razak has urged Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi to take a leaf from Danish veterans Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen to extend their careers.
Astrup, 32, and Rasmussen, 35, endured a challenging period until July 2023, when they hit a rich vein of form by winning the Super 500 Canada Open.
The Danish pair followed that up with a silver medal at the World Championships in Copenhagen in August, and then clinched titles at the Hong Kong Open, Arctic Open and French Open, finishing the 2023 season on a high.
This year, they've won the Malaysian Masters and Canada Open and were runners-up at the Indonesian Masters.
However, they narrowly missed out on an Olympic bronze in Paris after losing to Malaysia's Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.
At 29 and 31, Yew Sin-Ee Yi are Malaysia's most senior men's doubles pair.
They made a strong comeback at the China Open two weeks ago, reaching the semi-finals, after a knee injury to Ee Yi kept them out of the scene.
"Astrup-Rasmussen show how veteran pairs can still win world tour titles and deliver consistent results," said Rosman, who coaches Malaysia's independent pairs.
"The Danes weren't performing well three years before the Paris Olympics, but they didn't give up. They kept enjoying the game, and soon their results turned around in July 2023.
"Yew Sin-Ee Yi need to follow a similar path. They must focus on enjoying the game and not stress too much about the pressures of the world tour at this stage of their careers.
"Their result at the China Open was surprising, especially as it was their first tournament after a long break. I hope they can maintain that form in the upcoming World Tour events in Europe."
Yew Sin-Ee Yi will compete at the Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland, starting Tuesday, followed by the Denmark Open in Odense from Oct 15-20.
If all goes to plan, the Malaysians could meet defending champions Astrup-Rasmussen in the quarter-finals of the Arctic Open.