Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (AL AIN)
Inexperience cost the UAE brother duo of Dev and Dhiren Ayyappan a place in the Round of 16 for Al Ain Masters at the Khalifa bin Zayed hall as they lost to the fancied, third-seeded Malaysian pair of Low Hang Yee and Ng Eng Cheong on Thursday.
Rookies in the senior age group, the Ayyappans matched their opponents shot for shot and kept up the pace for most of the game, but faded towards the end as they went down 21-14, 18-21, 21-17 after 47 minutes.
Ranked 87th in the world and well below their rivals, the siblings admitted they made mistakes in rushing to close the decider. “In the third game, they changed their game plan and started playing faster.
“When we thought we could close the game and rushed for it, we made mistakes. But there’s always something to learn from matches like these,” said former world junior number one Dev Ayyappan.
His brother Dhiren fared better in the mixed doubles where he advanced to the pre-quarter-final with Taabia Khan. “The standard of competition is quite high; and we are still adapting to it,” he said.
The winners were full of praise for the UAE pair, who have managed four podiums in their first year in the senior category. “They played quite well. Our game plan didn’t work in the second game; they put us under pressure,” Low admitted.
The Ayappans are part of an elite training programme under Danish coach and High-Performance Director Michael Noerbaek, with the objective of preparing for the LA 2028 Olympics and the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar.
