KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 — After a commendable start to his partnership with Teoh Mei Xing, mixed doubles shuttler Hoo Pang Ron is hoping for positive results in 2023 to help them qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The 24-year-old, however, admits that the task is not going to be a walk in the park as apart from adapting to his new partner, he also has to adjust to a new training regime under former Olympics silver medallist Nova Widianto.

Pang Ron said among the major challenges are building a commendable combination with Mei Xing, who previously played women’s doubles.

“She didn’t play mixed doubles for some time. So she needs more time to adapt to mixed doubles to strengthen our partnership. But it is getting better because we have started to increase our training sessions.

“Still a lot of things to improve but hopefully we can perform in the Malaysia Open this month. After the home tournament, we will analyse our game and rectify our weaknesses before the next tournament,” he said when met.

Pang Ron began 2022 with Cheah Yee See and went on to win the Hanoi SEA Games silver medal in May, before ending their four-year partnership for a short stint with Toh Ee Wei starting from the Indonesia Masters in June.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) then made another reshuffle, pairing Pang Ron with Mei Xing towards the end of 2022.

Pang Ron-Mei Xing, currently ranked 159 in the world, started their partnership by reaching the semi-finals of the Bangladesh International Challenge and winning the Malaysia International Challenge title in Ipoh, both held in December.

Pang Ron said he was delighted to be under the wings of two-time world champion Nova, who was appointed as the national mixed doubles coach last month.

“He is a legend; his coaching style is comfortable for us. He is strict during training but after that we can laugh and eat together,” he said.

Pang Ron-Mei Xing will start their 2023 season against world number 13 Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya of Japan in the first round of the Malaysia Open, scheduled for Jan 10-15 at Axiata Arena. They will then head to the India Open from Jan 17-22. — Bernama