Bangkok: Malaysia’s World No. 20 men’s pair Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi and World No. 24 Huang Kai Xiang/Liu Cheng of China have set up a highly anticipated final clash at Thailand Masters, a first career head to head meeting between the two pairs.
Ong/Teo became Malaysia’s only shuttlers left in the tournament after defeating Taiwan’s World No. 30 Lee Jhe Huei/Yang Po Hsuan in straight set with 21-17, 21-14.
The victory also proved that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has made a right choice to select them for the Asian Team Champions that will take place in Manila, Philippines next month.
On the other hand, Huang/Liu who knocked off Malaysia’s World No. 8 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik in the first round on Tuesday, easily overcame the Rio Olympics silver medalists Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong 21-15, 21-11 in the semi-final.
Goh/Tan were slow in reacting to Huang/Liu’s attacks, and instead of playing more flat returns, they lifted a lot of high shots, which in turn being killed easily by the Chinese pair.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s two mixed doubles pairs couldn’t follow Teo/Ong’s footsteps to advance to the final, as Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Lai lost to England’s Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith 21-19, 19-21, 22-24 while Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing had to bow out to Indonesia’s Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, 19-21, 23-21, 17-21.
In men’s singles competition, Kenta Nishimoto of Japan will meet No. 3 seed Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong in the final, while Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi will take on An Se Young of Korea in the women’s singles final.
