Kuala Lumpur: Three national badminton shuttlers failed in their bid to clinch the final berth of the Korea Open after losing to their respective opponents in the semi-final stage at Hwasun Indoor Stadium in Seoul Saturday.
National men’s doubles, Goh Wei Shem and Ong Jian Guo, lost to fifth seed, Lee Yong Dae and Ko Sung Hyun of South Korea, 11-21 and 16-21 in just 31 minutes.
National men’s singles Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif, who also the tournament’s top seed, gave a strong fight against another host player, Lee Dong Keun, before going down 17-21, 21-18 and 19-21 in the match that lasted almost 90 minutes.
The loss was a repeat ‘performance’ for Mohamad Arif as he had also lost to South Korea’s Shon Wan Ho at the same tournament last year.
Sonia Cheah followed suit after losing 13-21, 21-15 and 14-21 in the women’s singles category against second seed, Aprilla Yuswandari of Indonesia, in hour-long matches.
