PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will not have a finalist in the Asian Junior Badminton Championships for the third year in a row after boys’ doubles pair Ooi Zi Heng-Soh Wooi Yik crashed out in the semi-finals.
Sixth-seeded Zi Heng-Wooi Yik, the sole Malaysians left in the competition, were unable to get the better of China’s Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong as they lost 15-21, 17-21 at the CPB Badminton and Sports Science Training Centre in Bangkok on Saturday.
It was Zi Heng-Wooi Yik’s second loss to the Chinese pair at the Asian Juniors, having lost to them in straight sets in the quarter-finals last year.
The third-seeded Chengkai-Haodong will take on compatriots and top seeds He Jiting-Tan Qiang in the final.
Malaysia, thus, end their campaign at the Asian Juniors with just a bronze medal through Zi Heng-Wooi Yik
Malaysia have not won an Asian Junior title since Soo Teck Zhi won the boys’ singles crown in 2013.
China, who bagged all five individual titles last year, are eyeing a second straight clean sweep.
Apart from the boys’ doubles, they also have the girls’ doubles title already in the bag.
SEMI-FINALS RESULTS
Boys’ singles: Sun Feixiang (Chn) bt Lakshya Sen (Ind) 21-12, 21-16; Lee Chia-hao (Tpe) bt Liu Haichao (Chn) 21-14, 16-21, 21-17.
Boys’ doubles: He Jiting-Tan Qiang (Chn) bt Fan Qiuyue-Ren Xiangyu (Chn) 21-10, 21-16; Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong (Chn) bt Ooi Zi Heng-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) 21-15, 21-17.
Girls’ singles: Gregoria Mariska (Ina) bt Gao Fangjie (Chn) 21-13, 13-21, 21-10; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Kim Ga-eun (Kor) w.o.
Girls’ doubles: Ni Bowen-Zhou Chaomin (Chn) bt Ruethaichanok Laisuan-Alisa Sapniti (Tha) 21-13, 21-14; Du Yue-Xu Ya (Chn) bt Minami Kawashima-Natsumi Uesugi (Jpn) 21-15, 21-17.
Mixed doubles: He Jiting-Du Yue (Chn) bt Zhou Haodong-Hu Yuxiang (Chn) 21-14, 21-12; Kim Won-ho-Lee Yu-rim (Kor) bt Rinov Rivaldy-Apriani Rahayu (Ina) 21-17, 22-20.
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