HOON Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong have promised to bounce back from their quarter-final defeat in the All England with stronger performances in upcoming competitions.
The World No 7, who endured tough matches in the opening two rounds in Birmingham, lost tamely to Indonesia's World No 18 Gideon Markis Fernaldi-Markis Kido 21-18, 21-12 in 38 minutes.The defeat came as a surprise for fans as the fifth seeded Thien How-Wee Kiong were expected to breeze past the Indonesians and qualify for their first semi-final appearance.
It was tight in the first game but the composed Gideon-Markis, the reigning French Open winners, took advantage of their opponents' erratic performance to close the game.
Thien How-Wee Kiong's confidence was also affected by several unfavourable service fault calls.
In the second game, Gideon-Markin upped their intensity and pressured the Malaysians with powerful smashes for the easy win.
Wee Kiong admitted he and Thien How made too many unforced errors and had failed to control proceedings on Friday.
"We had prepared well and were confident going into the match. However, we made mistakes and failed to control play, especially, at the net," said Wee Kiong.
"Several calls by the service umpire also went against us. I do not want to comment about the decisions but we lost points and it affected us mentally."
Thien How-Wee Kiong, ranked No 1 in Malaysia following the retirement of Koo Kien Keat, need to work harder.
The pair won their first international title at last year's Macau Open and followed up with a quarter-final appearance in the Super Series Finals in Kuala Lumpur before demoralising first round defeats in the season opener's Korea Open and Malaysian Open.
Undeterred by the poor start to the season, Thien How-Wee Kiong used the short break after the Malaysian Open to polish their game and it paid dividends as they reached the quarter-finals in last week's German Open.
Thien How-Wee Kiong, along with Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah, are being groomed by the BA of Malaysia for the Thomas Cup, World Championships in Copenhagen, Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Incheon Asian Games.
Despite working hard in training, both pairs still lag behind the world's top doubles and are not championship-material just yet.
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