SHAH ALAM, April 5 — Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) technical director Morten Frost-Hansen admitted that he has made a mistake in managing the schedule of women’s doubles pair Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei.
Feeling sorry for the national number one pair, Frost stressed that he did not intend to jeopardise the national pair by pulling them out from the All-England to participate in the Portuguese Open.
“I’ve made a mistake in terms of Vivan and Khe Wei. I pulled them out of the All-England and put them in the Polish and French (Orleans) opens,” he told reporters here today.
“I was not aware that we cannot withdraw and enter other tournaments in the same week. This was my first mistake after 13 months I have been here.”
Frost was commenting on Bernama’s report on Sunday regarding the chances of Vivian-Khe Wei in making it to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August.
BAM’s oversight may cost the duo a place in the last 16 although they are currently ranked 14th in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking list.
Khe Wei, 27, and Vivian, 26, may miss the boat to Brazil since most of the top pairs and pairs ranked immediately below them have all confirmed their participation in the Singapore Open and their 14th spot has come under threat.
According to the Dane, the national pair still have their chance to collect the points to qualify for the Olympics following the upcoming tournaments — the ongoing Malaysia Open, China Masters and Badminton Asia Championship (BAC).
“If Vivian and Khei Wei manage to advance at least to the second round, their chances are bright to collect more points,” said Frost.
Frost said the duo were not competing in the upcoming Singapore Open (April 12-17) because BAM decided that the players have to take a break and be more focused on their preparations to get to the Olympics. — Bernama
