AARON-SOH HAVE POTENTIAL TO ACHIEVE GREATER SUCCESS - HERRY

By Kenny Teng Khoon Hock

BANGKOK, May 19 (Bernama) -- National men's doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi believes that Thailand Open men's doubles champions, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, have the potential to achieve even greater success for the country.

Herry described the Asian champions as the most matured Malaysian men's doubles pair, with a variety of game strategies that give them an advantage on the court.

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According to Herry, the Aaron-Soh partnership is also among the quickest to adapt to new training programs and techniques since he took over as the men's doubles coach last February.

"Aaron-Soh are perhaps the most matured players and have quickly adapted to the training program I introduced, in just a few months. I am confident they can go even further," he told Bernama when met during the Thailand Open which ended at Nimibutr Stadium yesterday.

He also praised the world number five pair's ability to adapt to various game strategies, which provides an advantage when facing experienced opponents.

"I see that Aaron-Soh can play according to several 'game plans,' and that gives them an advantage every time they meet strong opponents," he said.

Last Sunday, the 2022 men's doubles world champions put on a stylish performance to win their first Super 500 title at the Thailand Open, after defeating Danish pair William Kryger Boe-Christian Faust Kjaer in a three-set thriller which ended 20-22, 21-17, 21-12 in favour of the Malaysian pair.

Meanwhile, when asked about other men's doubles pairs, Herry said that most of them still need time to adapt to his training program.

According to him, pairs like Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Roy King, and Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri have their own advantages but still need to improve several aspects of their game.

"If you want to compete at the Super 300 or 500 level and above, physical strength needs to be solid, and variations in game strategy are very important to ensure victory every time you play," he explained.

Herry hopes that all Malaysian players can take the opportunity to showcase their best performance at the Malaysia Masters 2025, a Super 500 level tournament that will commence at the Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, starting tomorrow until May 25.

Herry, nicknamed 'Naga' (Dragon), has produced Olympic champions such as Candra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan (Sydney 2000) and Hendra Setiawan-Markis Kido (Beijing 2008), a result of his 31 years of dedication to coaching the Indonesian badminton squad.

--BERNAMA