Chan Peng Soon-Lai Pei Jing stood up when it mattered most to send Malaysia into the mixed team final.
GLASGOW: Woman shuttler Lai Pei Jing showed that she is one not to be underestimated.
Pei Jing, considered the weak link in the team due to her inexperience, put up one of her best performances with Chan Peng Soon to deliver Malaysia’s winning point in a sensational 3-2 victory over Singapore in the mixed team’s semi-finals at the Emirates Arena.
Defending champions Malaysia will take on second seeds England in Monday’s final – thus assuring Malaysia of a silver.
The English had a day to remember as they thrashed India 3-0, with men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles all delivering the points.
The day surely belonged to Pei Jing-Peng Soon, who came from behind to beat Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Vanessa Neo 17-21, 21-12, 21-14 in a 67-minute thriller.
Singles shuttler Chong Wei Feng overcame some sluggish moment in the second game to beat Derek Wong 21-9, 21-18 while Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong blew a 16-12 lead in the second game before coming back to beat Danny-Chayut Triyachart 21-17, 18-21, 21-16.
The women could not handle the strong assault from the Singaporeans, with Tee Jing Yi losing 12-21, 20-22 to Liang Xiaoyu and Woon Khe Wei-Vivian Hoo going down 9-21, 18-21 to Shinta Mulia Sari-Yao Lei.
It was a disappointing performance by Khe Wei-Vivian as they had beaten the same pair en route to winning the SEA Games gold in Myanmar last December.
The 22-year-old Pei Jing, who replaced the injured Goh Liu Ying, was just happy to have come through the litmus test unscathed.
“Peng Soon and I are just happy that we won the crucial point for Malaysia. This is my first major event with Peng Soon and we delivered,” said Pei Jing.
“I have always believed in myself but, today, I was able to step up to the plate. While Peng Soon did amazingly great at the backcourt, I did my part to stay solid at the front.”
Said Peng Soon: “After losing the opener, we were quite nervous towards the end but I told Pei Jing that we needed to be confident and overcome our fear.
“Fortunately, Pei Jing rose to the occasion and it all worked out well for us in the rubber game … and we are now in the final.”
Just a day earlier, Malaysia had beaten Scotland 3-1 in the final Group A tie, which saw Peng Soon-Pei Jing failing to deliver a point when they lost to Robert Blair-Imogen Bankier.
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