KUALA LUMPUR: Here is a contrasting situation for two national badminton pairs. Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have been urged to take a break but Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik should not stop.
Olympic silver medallist Goh Liu Ying said yesterday that the battle-worn Pearly-Thinaah should avoid injuries and not play in one or two tournaments to give their tired bodies a rest.
As for world No. 4 Aaron-Wooi Yik, national men's doubles coach Tan Bin Shen said they are rusty after a two-month layoff from competitions and thus need to sharpen up.
Bin Shen said it is better for Aaron- Wooi Yik to continue playing in the remaining world tour events.
He said that Wooi Yik's toe fracture was not the main reason for their defeat (22-20, 21-15) to China's world No. 21 Chen Bo Yang-Liu Yi in the Denmark Open quarter-finals.
Aaron-Wooi Yik beat the same pair in straight games in the Arctic Open first round, but suffered a shock second round straight games defeat to England's orld No. 13 Ben Lane-Sean Vendy.
Bin Shen said Aaron-Wooi Yik clearly are lacking sharpness, and the situation can only improve by focusing on training and playing in tournaments.
Wooi Yik suffered a toe injury during the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics in August and underwent surgery. He trained for only three weeks before competing in the Arctic Open and later the ongoing Denmark Open in Odense.
Now that their chances of qualifying for the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou in December look slim, Bin Shen said they must focus on regaining their touch.
"Wooi Yik's toe is not a concern anymore, but both players are still rusty due to the two-month break from tournaments.
"Taking another break from tournaments will only make it worse as they need top class matches to regain their touch. They have to continue preparation to iron out the weaknesses and focus on improving.
"As for the WTF, it looks really difficult for them (to qualify) based on their current performance.
"They might qualify by winning one of the remaining tournaments but at their current level, that looks slim.
"We have to be realistic and the most important thing now for Aaron-Wooi Yik is to regain their old form to start stronger next year."
Aaron-Wooi Yik will be competing in the Kumamoto Masters in Japan on Nov 12-17 and China Masters in Shenzhen on Nov 19-24.
They are currently 13th in the tour ranking where the high-riding Goh Sze fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are third, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are seventh while Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri are ninth.