Winning start at Malaysia Masters for Ee Yi-Yew Sin after BAM exit

Men’s doubles Teo Ee Yi-Ong Yew Sin, who were dropped from the national team by BAM last week, re-launched their careers as professionals on a positive note yesterday.

The duo, who managed to secure sponsors over the last three days, produced a 21-15, 15-21, 21-18 win over India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in the first round of the Malaysia Masters at the Axiata Arena yesterday.

Ee Yi, 27, said they could hardly sleep over the last three days as they needed to get the release early from BAM and also secure sponsorship so that they can kick-start their career as soon as possible.

“It was quite tiring as we had to deal with sponsorship matters for the last three days apart from continuing our preparation for the Malaysia Masters.

“We are happy to have started our independent career with a win,” said Ee Yi.

“Previously, there was pressure on us as we needed to meet targets set by BAM but it is a bit different now.

“We are now on our own and we need to focus on our personal goals. It is a whole new experience and there is a lot to learn in our new venture.”

Ee Yi and Yew Sin are glad that they have fellow independent pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and Tan Boon Heong to spar with while Chew Choon Eng has been helping out as a coach.

Yew Sin said he didn’t feel odd playing outside the national team for the first time.

“Although we were a little down last week, I don’t feel there is much difference as an independent pair. We are playing for ourselves and also for the country,” said Yew Sin.

“The only difference is probably when it comes to sponsorship as we need to look for our own funding. We may have to forget about playing in Europe as it will be expensive. We will focus more on the Asian region.”