ZAKRY Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari have thrown away numerous chances to establish themselves as a world-class combination but the pair are determined to not miss out on a medal in the World Championships.
Everything is in place for Zakry and Fairuz to achieve the feat in the Hyderabad World Championships after the withdrawal of defending champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia on Friday.
Markis-Hendra would have won hands down in an expected quarter-final clash had they decided not to withdraw and Zakry is optimistic this is the best chance for them to turn around their troubled partnership.
"We had been keeping our fingers crossed that something good would happen and we have already received some encouraging news.
"However, we must make use of Markis-Hendra’s absence," said Zakry at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Friday.
"Winning a medal would be fantastic as it could make a huge difference. It can put our career in order and we can finally claim to be a world class pair.
"We will still have to fight despite the Indonesians’ absence as our recent performance has been poor.
"At least we can go into the tournament with optimism as based on our current condition, causing an upset over Markis-Hendra was out of the question (had they played)."
Zakry-Fairuz don’t have fond memories of the World Championships as they crashed out in the second round in 2007 to China’s Xie Zhongbo-Guo Zhendong.
A run of defeats cost them a place in the Beijing Olympics last year where veterans Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah earned the second ticket behind Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong.
Zakry-Fairuz are also without a title since the Singapore-Indonesia Open double last year.
They duo must overcome Indonesians Rian Sukmawan-Yonathan Dasuki in the third round and will secure a medal if they beat South Koreans Cho Gun Woo-Yoo Yeon Seong in the last eight.
Should they manage to reach the semis, they will meet either Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China or Denmark’s Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen.
