Eogene Ewe
PETALING JAYA: The shuttlers passed their first real test in the mixed team event of the World Junior Championships with flying colours to reach the quarter-finals.
Led by Eogene Ewe (pic) in the men’s singles, the team smashed past England 5-0 in their final Group C match in Spokane, the United States, on Wednesday to set up a match against India in the last eight.
Eogene and his teammates knew that only a win will earn them top spot in the group and a place in the last eight and they handled the pressure well to come out on top.
The other points were delivered by Siti Zulaikha Azmi (girls’ singles), Bryan Goonting-Aaron Tai (boys’ doubles), Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting (girls’ doubles) and Low Han Chen-Chan Wen Tse (mixed doubles).
It completed a flawless group stage for Malaysia after the team had trounced Poland 4-1, Austria 5-0 and Latvia 5-0 in their first three matches.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) acting development director Joanne Quay was pleased with the players’ performance against England.“The good win will give the players a bit of confidence ahead of the quarter-finals,” said Joanne
“The group stage has also given the coaches a better idea of who to field in the next matches.”
The match-up against India will be a repeat of the group stage tie in the Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta in July where Malaysia won 5-0.
Another win over the Indians will guarantee Malaysia at least a bronze medal and will pit them against either China or Japan in the semi-finals.
The other quarter-final ties will see Thailand take on Taiwan while Indonesia will battle France.
Defending champions South Korea will be the notable absentee in the last eight after going down 2-3 to China in their last Group A match.
Group C
Malaysia beat England 5-0 (Low Han Chen-Chan Wen Tse bt Oliver Butler-Chloe Dennis 21-16, 21-17; Eogene Ewe bt Michael Pang 21-6, 21-9; Siti Zulaikha Azmi bt Leona Lee 16-21, 21-18, 21-10; Bryan Goonting-Aaron Tai bt Robin Harper-Harry Wakefield 21-12, 21-10; Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting bt Lucy Brierley-Tashvi Parab 21-11, 21-9).
