Teck Zhi stays strong to book a spot in final

Darren Isaac Devadass (right) and Ong Yew Sin in action against Jeon Hyuk-jin-Heo Kwang Hee in the boy

KUALA LUMPUR: Top seed Soo Teck Zhi of Malaysia has set up a mouth-watering clash with defending champion Choi Sol-kyu of South Korea in Sunday’s boys’ singles final of the Maybank Malaysia International Youth Under-19 badminton championships.

Teck Zhi had to dig deep into his reserves against fourth seed Heo Kwang-hee of South Korea in Saturday’s semi-finals before winning 18-21, 21-15, 25-23 in 55 minutes at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara.

Sol-kyu, the sixth seed, had an easier time. He outclassed compatriot Jeon Hyuk-jin 21-10, 21-17 in 37 minutes in the other semi-final.

“I started off with a very straight game plan. But I was under a lot of pressure in the first game as I made a lot of unforced errors. Luckily, I started to get a lot more comfortable on court after that. I made some changes and was able to come away with the win,” said Teck Zhi.

The Malaysian was threading dangerously with the score deadlocked at 20-all in the rubber game. He, however, found enough energy to win the two points for a 25-23 victory.

“Of course, it was nerve-wrecking. But I’ve had experience playing rubber sets before. The difference between winning and losing is just two points, so I just knew I needed to keep pushing and win every point from then on,” said Teck Zhi.

The 18-year-old is now relishing the chance to add another title to his collection. He won the Asian Junior crown in July.

“I have faith in myself. Tomorrow (Sunday) is a new match and I will give it a good fight,” said Teck Zhi.

Malaysia also have a chance to win the boys’ doubles crown. Darren Isaac Devadass-Ong Yew Sin clinched a berth in the final after a convincing 21-18, 21-16 victory over Koreans Jeon Hyuk-jin-Heo Kwang-hee in 29 minutes.

Darren-Ye Sin, who won the Kedah Open and National Grand Prix titles this year, will play Koreans Kim Jae-hwan-Kim Jung-ho for the title. Jae-hwan-Jung-ho struggled to an 18-21, 21-10, 21-17 win over compatriots Choi Jong-woo-Seo Seung-jae in the other semi-final.

“We are playing the top seeds, so there’s no pressure on us to win the title,” said Yew Sin.

There was, however, no joy for Goh Yea Ching-Peck Yen Wei in the women’s doubles. The Malaysians went down 10-21, 6-21 to Koreans Kim Ji-won and Chae Yoon-jung in the semi-finals.