akarta: Malaysia rested the 2015 World Junior champion Goh Jin Wei in their last Group C1 tie against New Zealand on Tuesday morning, and the youngsters didn’t disappoint by beating New Zealand 5-0.
The courageous Eoon Qi Xuan stepped up big in Goh Jin Wei’s place and produced a formidable performance to beat Sally Fu of New Zealand in the girls’ singles with a 21-16, 21-8 win.
Chang Yee Jun/Pearly Koong Le Tan kicked off the tie that saw the Malaysian mixed doubles pair outlasted Tamara Otene/Dacmen Vong of New Zealand 21-19, 21-7.
Sim Fong Hau also replaced Leong Jun Hao in the boys’ singles, and extended Malaysia’s advantage to 2-0 before Eoon Qi Xuan sealed the deal in the girls’ singles.
Kwewk Yee Jian/Man Wei Chong Oscar and Tan Sueh Jeou/Toh Ee Wei then picked up the boys’ doubles and girls’ doubles matches to complete Malaysia’s s’ second straight mixed team sweep at the 2017 world junior championship.
Later Tuesday, Ng Eng Cheong/Toh Ee Wei produced a composed yet fierce match to overcome Robert Cybulski/Wiktoria Dabczynska of Poland 21-11, 21-8 to give Malaysia a 1-0 lead in the mixed team Group C1 playoff.
Leong Jun Hao and Goh Jin Wei then gave Malaysia an unassailable 3-0 lead by defeating their opponents in the boys’ singles and girls singles match respectively.
After defeated Brazil and Mongolia in Group H1, the host country Indonesia will meet Spain in the mixed team play-off against Spain on Wednesday. Spain became the winner in Group H2 after they eased past El Salvador on Monday and Finland on Tuesday.
“As expected, we had an easy victory today,” said Indonesian team manager Susi Susanti
“We are looking forward to a good performance against Spain on Wednesday,” added Susanti.
Indonesia is eyeing two golds at the 2017 World Junior tournament.
Meanwhile, defending champion China demolished Denmark 5-0 on Tuesday to set up their last Group G tie against Chinese Taipei on Wednesday.
