Taipei: Current World No. 106 Daren Liew of Malaysia has reached the Taiwan Masters semi-finals after coming through an easy quarter-final against Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia 11-8, 11-3, 11-2 on Friday.
The 29-year-old former Malaysian national shuttler will meet local shuttler No. 5 seed Lin Yu Hsien on Saturday for a place in the final.
Lin defeated fellow teammate Hsueh Hsuan Yi 11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 in another quarterfinals match.
Another former Malaysian national player – Tan Chun Seang squandered four point lead at 8-4 in the fifth set and fatigue may have caught up with the 30-year-old, when Tan went down 11-6, 4-11, 15-13, 5-11, 9-11 to No. 1 seed Hsu Jen Hao of Taiwan in the quarter-finals.
Nevertheless, Friday was a perfect day for the Malaysian women’s doubles team when two Malaysian women’s doubles pairs advanced to the semi-finals.
Lim Yin Loo/Yap Cheng Wen were on fire when they shocked No. 2 seeds Poon Lok Yan/Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 in just 25 minutes. Another unseeded Malaysian pair Chow Mei Kuan/Lee Meng Yean closed out their quarter-final match against Ayako Sakuramoto/Yukiko Takahata of Japan in 75 minutes, but it was not without a fight. Chow/Lee went the distance before they overcame the Japanese pair 15-14, 13-11, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9.
The No. 2 seed Tee Jing Yi of Malaysia has fizzled out after losing 6-11, 7-11, 6-11 to fifth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the women’s singles event.
