PASIR GUDANG: Shuttlers Lim Khim Wah-Goh V Shem will seek to maintain their one-year domination at home by defending the men’s doubles title in the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold tournament at the Pasir Gudang Municipal Stadium on Sunday.
Their opponents in the final will be high-riding Singaporeans Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Chayut Triyachart.
In order to pull off the feat, the Malaysians will have to play far better than what they dished out in a lethargic semi-final victory against third seeds Gideon Markus Fernaldi-Markis Kido on Saturday.
Khim Wah-V Shem flirted with danger before sealing an 18-21, 21-18, 21-17 win in a drab 57-minute match that could have gone either way. The Malaysians should have nicked the opening game after confidently marching into a 13-8 lead. Instead, they got sluggish and the Indonesians seized the opportunity to steal the opener.
Nothing much changed in the second and rubber games as both pairs continued to pull off brilliant shots, and then giving away easy points.
Fortunately, Markis was the most inconsistent of the lot – and Khim Wah-V Shem did just enough to win a ticket to the final.
Khim Wah admitted that it was a weak performance.
“We got off well but made mistakes towards the tail-end of the first game. We got slightly distracted after that,” said Khim Wah.
“We tried to clear our mind and regain our focus ... fortunately, we did enough to win it.”
V Shem admitted that they will have to be consistent in the final today to stand a chance of winning.
“We are the only Malaysians left in the tournament and we know what the fans want ... we do not want to disappoint them. We want to continue doing well on Malaysian soil by winning our third Open title at home,” said V Shem.
Last year, the duo won the Malaysian Open GP Gold at Juara Stadium. In January, they delighted the fans by winning the Malaysian Open Superseries Premier at the same venue.
Meanwhile, there was no joy for Malaysia’s women’s doubles when Lim Yin Loo-Lee Meng Yean lost 17-21, 17-21 to China’s juniors Ou Dongni-Xiong Mengjing in the semi-finals.
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