Rio 2016: V Shem-Wee Kiong moves into the quarter
Bernama
August 12, 2016 00:03 MYT
August 12, 2016 00:03 MYT
Men's doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong booked a berth in the quarterfinals with an easy 21-12, 21-10 win over American's pair Phillip Chew-Sattawat Pongnairat in the second Group B match at the Rio Olympics Games here, Friday.
However, the 12th world ranked pair will have to square off with Chinese fourth seeds, Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan, in tomorrow's last group match to decide the group champions to avoid stronger match-up in the last eight knock-out stage.
In the second match, V Shem-Wee Kiong, pushing themselves for a podium finish in their Olympics debut here, did not have to push themselves to the limit to secure an effortless 22 minutes win.
The national doubles kicked start their Olympic campaign against Germans Michael Fuchs-Johannes Schoettler with a 21-14, 21-17 win on Thursday and the pair said that they would use the two-win momentum to challenge the Chinese pair.
"The match level will be different tomorrow as the Chinese also want to top the group but we will settle the record straight as the two wins have given us confidence," said V Shem.
The head-to-head record stand at 1-1 after the Chinese pair won in their last encounter at the 2015 Indonesian Open.
Wee Kiong said they would discuss with their coach on their shortcomings in the first two matches here before going to court against the the Chinese pair.
The Chinese pair won the doubles gold at the 2012 London Olympics when Haifeng was partnering Cai Yun.
"We are going all out with attacking mode from the start. Our focus is to play to our best and accept whatever the outcome as we are already in the quarterfinals," he said.