PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will be counting on either Lee Shun Yang or Shaqeem Eiman Shahyar to deliver the goods in the men’s singles event at the Hella International in Greece.
The two 20-year-olds have assured Malaysia of a place in the title match after making it an all-Malaysian affair in the semi-final yesterday.
Shun Yang overcame compatriot Jacky Kok 21-12, 21-17 while Shaqeem defeated Englishman Johnie Torjussen 21-19, 21-17 in the other quarter-final clash.
The men’s singles shuttlers are under pressure to perform as they were the only department which have failed to produce winners at last week’s Latvia International, which marked the first of their three European stint.
Jacky was the last man standing before he was ousted in the semi-finals.
Wyman Goh, who failed to even reach the main draw last week, failed to impress in Greece too.
He was beaten 14-21, 18-21 by Jan Louda of the Czech Republic.
Although these men’s singles shuttlers are only competing in their first tournament in more than 18 months and the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) are expecting them to make an impact at these Future Series-rated events, which are ranked the lowest in the world ranking tournaments’ hierachy.
Meanwhile, Yap Roy King stayed on course for another double victory in as many weeks after doing well in both the men and mixed doubles events.
With Nurfirdaus Azman, they defeated Czech top seeds Jaromi Sanacek-Tomas Scvejda 18-21, 21-10, 21-12 to set up a rematch of last week’s final in Latvia with compatriots Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Haikal Nazri.
Roy King also excelled in his partnership with Valeree Siow as they beat Jaume Perez-Claudia Leal of Spain 22-20, 21-11 to be just two wins away from replicating their success in Latvia last week.
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