A HOPE to become the first women’s pair in eight years to reach the quarter-finals did not happen for shuttlers Woon Khe Wei-Vivian Hoo in the World Championships.
Yesterday, the duo went down 16-21, 18-21 to eighth seeds Eom Hye-won-Jang Ye-na of South Korea in 56 minutes.
On paper, the Malaysians had held the advantage after having beaten them three times in their four previous meetings.
But yesterday, the Koreans were in command with their well calculated moves on the court. And to make it worse, both the debutants Khe Wei and Vivian were just giving too many easy points.
Vivian was dejected with their close defeat.
“Today, we just could not find the space to kill off our opponents’ relentless attacking shots. They made fewer mistakes,” said Vivian.
“We have beaten them three times but it had been very close. We knew it will be a touch and go situation but it does feel sad that we did not take the advantage.”
Khe Wei said her attention would shift to SEA Games in December after her failure to reach the quarter-finals in her first world meet.
“I did not perform well and struggled. It is disappointing that we cannot make the top eight but we will now turn our attention to the SEA Games,” added Khe Wei, who was a member of the team who won the gold at the 2009 SEA Games in Laos.
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