KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — National men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi has pointed out the three controversial decisions he believes led to teenagers Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai’s second-round exit in the ongoing Malaysia Masters at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil here yesterday.
Aaron-Khai Xing, the 2024 world junior champions who are making their Malaysia Masters debut, went down fighting 10-21, 26-24, 16-21 in 67 minutes to seventh-seeded Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard of Denmark.
Herry claims that there were at least three controversial calls which directly impacted the final result.
“Yes, three times (decisions)… one time the shuttle was clearly out but was adjudged to be in. Another time the shuttle was in but was ruled out. That’s twice.
“Then, in the third game, he (the umpire) ruled that Aaron had touched the shuttle, but there was no contact. We have seen the recording and there was no contact as Aaron managed to evade the shuttle. If that had been out, it would have seen our pair narrow the score to 13-14. But because the umpire ruled that Aaron had touched it, the score became 15-12 in favour of the Danes,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Unfortunately, world number 58 Aaron-Khai Xing could not challenge the decision because the challenge system was only available on Court 1 while their match was played on Court 2.
Herry feels that the controversial decisions placed emotional stress on 19-year-old Khai Xing and 18-year-old Aaron.
Herry, who hopes that the youngsters will bounce back from the setback, has also called on the Badminton Federation of Malaysia (BAM) to submit an official protest to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) against the controversial decisions made by the umpire.
In today’s quarter-finals, Kjaer-Sogaard will Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik after the fourth-seeded Malaysians outplayed Taiwan’s Liu Kuang Heng-Yang Po Han 21-13, 21-16 yesterday. — Bernama
