Same sad ending for Kian Meng-Pei Jing in Taiwan

(BRIEF CAPTION) Malaysia mixed double pair Tan Kian Meng (right) and Lai Pei Jing frustrated after defeated by Siwei Zheng and Yinhui Li from China during the final match of the Malaysia Master badminton tournament at SPICE Arena in Relau,Penang .Star pic by: ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star / 24 January 2016.

PETALING JAYA: Three finals. Three runner-up finishes.

That’s the story of mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing at the Taiwan Open badminton championships.

The unseeded Kian Meng-Pei Jing found the highly-rated Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen of China too hot to handle and lost 13-21, 16-21 at the Taipei Arena on Sunday.

The world No. 44 Malaysians, who had beaten higher-ranked pairs like sixth seeds Huang Kaixiang-Huang Dongping of China and second seeds Reginald Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi Wah of Hong Kong in the earlier rounds, also played the bridesmaid’s role at the Malaysian Masters in January and the Polish Open in March.

This was the second title for their opponents, both 19. The young China pair won the Thailand Masters in February.

“We tried our best in the final, but our opponents put a lot of pressure on me,” said the 22-year-old Kian Meng on Sunday.

“It’s disappointing to lose, but this defeat will only motivate us more ... we’ll definitely come back stronger.”

The 23-year-old Pei Jing admitted that they came up short against opponents who were just too strong on the day.

“We didn’t give up until the end ... our opponents were just on top of everything. Still, it’s been a good outing, having reached the final.

“We hope to do better next time,” said Pei Jing.

China took home two more titles through Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (men’s doubles) and Huang Dongping-Zhong Qianxin (women’s doubles).

Hosts Taiwan still had much to celebrate after men’s singles world No. 7 Chou Tien-chen and women’s singles world No. 9 Tai Tzu-ying won their finals.

 

FINAL RESULTS

Men’s singles: Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) bt Qiao Bin (Chn) 21-18, 21-17.

Men’s doubles: Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) bt Chen Hung-ling-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) 21-17, 17-21, 24-22.

Women’s singles: Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe) bt Wang Shixian (Chn) 23-21, 21-6.

Women’s doubles: Huang Dongping-Zhong Qianxin (Chn) bt Luo Ying-Luo Yu (Chn) 21-18, 21-16.

Mixed doubles: Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen (Chn) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) 21-13, 21-16.