THE combination of Thomas Teh and Yeo Kok Fang are aiming to live up to their top billing at the Deaflympics badminton contest scheduled in Taiwan from Sept 5 to 15.
Following their success in winning the gold medal at the World Deaf Badminton Championships in Germany two years ago, their coach Mohamed Iqbal Yusoffsa is confident that the duo will be among the medal contenders in the individual men’s doubles competition.
“They only get to train together for major international tournaments, but they have been training on their own to stay in shape. Despite not having played as a pair for the past two years, they have been showing good understanding on the court during the two-week training stint in Kuala Lumpur. They certainly surprised us with their polished display,” said Iqbal, who has been guiding the deaf shuttlers since 2001.
Gearing up: Iqbal (left) sharing a light moment with Teh (centre) and Yeo as they take a look at the new racquets from Finnex. In addition, Iqbal had also lined up a series of friendly matches for them before they left for the Games yesterday.
“Besides adding sting to their game, they need to incorporate more variation in their strategies. In the friendlies, they took on opponents with different styles and approaches as part of the process to gain match exposure and improve on their temperament,” he added.
At their previous world meet, the 42-year-old Teh and 33-year-old Yeo were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the men’s singles.
“It is going to be very demanding for us to cope with the hectic tournament schedule, featuring in both the singles and doubles. We can only promise to try our best in our attempt to survive and progress as far as possible in the singles.
Flashback: Yeo (left) and Teh bagging the men’s doubles title at the world meet in Germany two years ago “Our main aim is to concentrate and do well in the doubles,” said seasoned campaigner Teh, who is a clerk at the Penang Development Corporation (PDC).
Since emerging as the national champion among those with hearing impairment in 1992, Teh has held on to the national number one position.
He forged the partnership with Yeo and took their only men’s doubles national title together in 1996.
In his third appearance at the Deaflympics, Teh is eyeing to move up one step on the podium, compared to his outings in Bulgaria and Italy in 1991 and 2001 respectively.
In 1991, he settled for a silver in the men’s singles and went on to pick up three silver medals (singles, doubles and team) a decade later.
“I will keep competing as long as my body can take it,” Teh said.
MY Sports House marketing and promotions manager Jennifer Yap presented the badminton equipment from Finnex to the shuttlers recently.
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