Jakarta: After a well fought two-set win over Pakistan’s Sarwar Azeem, Malaysia’s World No. 53 Lee Zii Jia is set to meet World No. 5 Son Wan Ho of Korea in Asian Games men’s singles round of 16 on Saturday at Istora Senayan stadium in Jakarta.
Lee was Malaysia’s sole representative in the men’s singles, after World No. 27 and the 2018 World Championships bronze medalist Daren Liew lost to South Korea’s Heo Kwang-hee 18-21, 22-20, 14-21 in the second round.
The Malaysian camp also suffered several other casualties in both the mixed doubles and women’s doubles categories on Friday.
The Rio Olympic mixed doubles silver medalists Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying were defeated by Hong Kong pair Reginald Lee Jun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah in a dramatic fashion.
Chan/Goh lost 17-21 in the first set but lifted the second set 21-19 before surrendering 26-28 in the decider after as they couldn’t find a way to finish the match at the most critical moment.
“There’s no luck for us, we just couldn’t close out the match,” said Chan.
Goh Liu Ying also acknowledged that they pretty much handed the victory to their opponents from Hong Kong.
“We are disappointed, after losing the first set, we believed we could beat them especially in the third set but unfortunately we made too many unforce errors,” said Goh.
Another Malaysian mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai was also shown the door as they went down to Hong Kong pair Tan Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet 21-14, 11-21, 20-22.
Meanwhile, India’s Ponnappa Ashwini/Reddy N Sikki outlasted Chow Mei Kuan/Lee Meng Yean of Malaysia 21-17, 16-21, 21-19 in the women’s doubles competition.
