Malaysian duo brought down to earth with a bump

Unheralded Malaysian pair Vivian Hoo-Khe Wei Woon, who reached the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the SCG Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold, saw their great run come to an end with a bump on Saturday.

Playing in their first international Open as a pair, the Malaysian girls were beaten by the more experienced Chinese pairing of Cheng Shu (right) and Yixin Bao, who won 21-17, 21-14.

China are guaranteed the gold medal as the other finalists are Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei, who defeated Hong Kong’s Poon Lok Yan-Tse Ying Suet 21-23, 21-12, 21-15.

In the men’s doubles, Indonesia’s Alvent Yulianto Chandra-Hendra Aprida Gunawan stunned second seeds Ko Sung Hyun-Yeon Seong Yoo of South Korea 21-14, 21-17 to prevent an all-Korean final.

Top seeds Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae had reached the final after beating former world champions Howard Bach-Tony Gunawan of the United States 21-18, 21-11.

Taipei’s Lee Sheng Mu-Chien Yu Chin, who are seeded fourth, defeated All England champions Xu Chen-Ma Jin of China 17-21, 21-19, 21-15 and will play Indonesia’s Nova Widianto-Vita Marissa, who edged South Korea’s Shin Baek Choel-Kim Min Jung 21-17, 20-22, 21-18.

But the story was all about the exploits of the young Malaysians, who had defeated top seeds Duanganong Aroonkesorn-Kunchala Voravichitchaikul of Thailand in the opening round.

They performed way above expectations and this augurs well for the Malaysians with the SEA Games less than six months away.

Time will tell if it was just a flash in the pan or whether Vivian and Wei Woon will be the ones to eventually replace Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui as their nation’s top women’s pair.

SEMI-FINALS
Men
Singles: Chen Long (China) bt Park Sung Hwan (Korea) 21-15, 21-13; Lee Hyun Il (Korea) bt Chen Jin (China) 18-21, 21-18, 22-20.

Doubles: Alvent Yulianto Chandra-Hendra Aprida Gunawan (Indonesia) bt Ko Sung Hyun-Yeon Seong Yoo (Korea) 21-14, 21-17; Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae (Korea) bt Howard Bach-Tony Gunawan (United States) 21-18, 21-11.

Women
Singles: Li Xuerui (China) bt Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Thailand) 21-17, 17-21, 21-13; Jiang Yanjiao (China) bt Cheng Shao Chieh (Taipei) 10-21, 21-12, 21-14.

Doubles: Cheng Shu-Yixin Bao (China) bt Vivian Hoo-Khe Wei Woon (Malaysia) 21-17, 21-14; Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei (China) bt Poon Lok Yan-Tse Ying Suet (Hong Kong) 21-23, 21-12, 21-15.

Mixed doubles: Lee Sheng Mu-Chien Yu Chin (Taipei) bt Xu Chen-Ma Jin (China) 17-21, 21-19, 21-15; Nova Widianto-Vita Marissa    (Indonesia) bt Shin Baek Choel-Kim Min Jung (Korea) 21-17, 20-22, 21-18.