KUALA LUMPUR: Despite making significant strides this year and establishing themselves among the world's top 30 men's pairs, national shuttlers Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri and Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King still have room for improvement, said coach Tan Bin Shen.
While Bin Shen is pleased that both pairs have secured passage to top-tier World Tour events, he feels they need to achieve more significant breakthroughs.
Ranked 19th and 22nd respectively, Hon Jian-Haikal and Arif-Roy King continue to struggle against the world's top eight pairs, often facing early exits.
At the China Open, Hon Jian-Haikal suffered a first-round defeat to South Korea's world No. 2 Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae, and Arif-Roy King fell to Denmark's world No. 3 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the Denmark Open second round.
The pairs have had their moments of success this year though.
Hon Jian-Haikal claimed the Orleans Masters title and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Arif-Roy King finished second in the Spain Masters and made it to the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters.
"It's still not enough," Bin Shen said when asked about the pairs' progress.
"I've told them that they need to start winning against top-eight opponents. They've made it to the Super 1000 tournaments, but what's next?
"On the World Tour, that's the highest level you can reach. I want them to understand that complacency isn't an option – they need to work harder for that breakthrough, or they'll risk stagnating.
"The first step is consistently reaching the quarter-finals. As non-top-eight pairs, they often face seeded opponents in early rounds, so they must try to create upsets. Hopefully, by the first half of 2025, we'll see some progress."
Bin Shen also sees potential for more Malaysian pairs in the world's top 10, but said that even world No. 14 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun need to work on their consistency.
While Wei Chong-Kai Wun made an impressive run to the Indonesia Open final in June, they've struggled to maintain that form.
At the Arctic Open, Wei Chong-Kai Wun pushed China's world No. 1 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang to their limits in the quarter-finals, but faltered at crucial moments.
"Wei Chong-Kai Wun have proven they can compete against anyone," Bin Shen said.
. "They just lack consistency. It's disappointing they couldn't build on their Indonesia Open success. There's no reason they can't be among the best."