FOLLOWING their success in bagging the silver medal in the men’s doubles badminton contest at the 21st Deaflympics in Taiwan recently, the partnership of Thomas Teh-Yeo Kok Fang remains the best bet to shoulder the country’s challenge in future international meets for shuttlers with hearing impairment.
Although the pair stumbled at the final hurdle, their coach, Mohamed Iqbal Yusoffsa praised them for living up to their billing as the second seeds in the four-day individual competition.
“As usual, Thomas showed his character in enduring the punishing pace, featuring in both the singles and doubles.
"After going down in the first game (16-21) against the Russian pair (Artemy Karpov-Mikhai Efremov) in the men’s doubles final, they got back into rhythm before going down fighting (21-23) in the second game.
"If they had forced the match down to the wire, the eventual outcome could have been different as they were threatening to give their opponents a better run for their money,” Iqbal added.
The Russians, seeded third-fourth, sprang a surprise in the top half of the draw semi-final by eliminating the top-seeded pair of Rajeev Bagga-Carl Sadler of England.
The English pair failed to get on the podium as they went down to Lee Jong-bong-Sin Hyun-woo of South Korea in the playoff for third spot.
Teh-Yeo also had to wear down the resistance of Lee-Sin in the semi-finals before prevailing with a 21-17,16-21, 21-18 win to advance.
Iqbal recalled, too, that his charges had also overcome the vocal home spectators backing the local hopefuls (Lin Chien-Chen-Huang Chung-Han) to chalk up a 21-15, 21-19 win in the quarter-finals.
In the men’s singles compe tition, top seed and eventual runner-up Bagga ended the 42-year-old Teh’s campaign for supremacy with a 21-15, 21-19 win in the semi-finals.
Teh also finished second best, losing 21-15, 13-21, 19-21 to China’s Lu Guang Yao, in a closely- contested encounter for the bronze medal.
“After the third-fourth playoff in the men’s singles, he (Teh) had an interval of only about 30 minutes before coming on court again for the men’s doubles final.
“Over the years, they have produced respectable results and they deserve the recognition.
"We hope the authorities will honour them for their sacrifices and effort to serve the country unconditionally. It will definitely serve as a huge boost for them to continue to strive for good results in the future,” Iqbal added.
Seasoned campaigner Teh had competed at three previous Deaflympics before the recent outing in Taiwan.
In his debut in Bulgaria in 1993, he settled for a silver in the men’s singles, and went on to pick up three silver medals (singles, doubles and team event) in Italy in 2001.
At the Games in Australia in 2005, he picked up an injury in the men’s singles quarter-finals and was forced to pull out from the men’s doubles.
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 they took their first title at the Asia Pacific Games at Kuala Lumpur in 1996.
The current national number one ranked pair bagged the gold medal at the World Deaf Badminton Championships in Germany two years ago.
“It would be great to go out there and defend our title at the upcoming world meet scheduled to be held in South Korea in 2011. But, we are going to set a modest target, and we will be satisfied to be among the medal contenders.
“As for the next Deaflympics in Greece in 2013, it is too soon to plan for it because four years is a long way away.
“My aim is very simple: I want to stay healthy and fit. I will continue to play competitively as long as my body can take it,” said Teh, who is a clerk in the Penang Development Corporation (PDC)
