PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri continued where they left off in the Syed Modi International by storming into the final of the World Tour Super 100 Indian Masters.
Hon Jian-Haikal, who had captured their maiden title at the Super 300 Syed Modi tourney in Lucknow last week, stayed consistent by beating fellow Malaysians Goh V Shem-Boon Xin Yuan 21-18, 21-17 in the last four at the Saru Sajai Indoor Sports Complex in Assam yesterday.
World No. 69 Hon Jian-Haikal will take on Taiwanese scratch pairing Lin Bing-wei-Su Ching-heng for the title today.
The former had only been paired together in August and have a golden opportunity to end their year on a high.
Hon Jian though could not make it a double joy for himself when he and Go Pei Kee went down 16-21, 21-12, 7-21 to Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard-Christine Busch in the mixed doubles.
In the men’s singles, independent player Cheam June Wei’s hopes of reaching his first final of the year was dashed after he lost 10-21, 19-21 to unheralded Indonesian Yohanes Saut.
June Wei last reached a final last year in the Indonesian Masters where he finished runner-up to compatriot Leong Jun Hao.
Meanwhile, youngster Justin Hoh was forced to retire from his match against another Indonesian Alwi Wijaya while trailing 12-21, 2-11 after suffering a foot injury.
It was an unfortunate end for Justin in only his second tournament after returning from an eight-month injury layoff.
RESULTS
(Malaysians unless stated)
Semi-finals
Men’s singles: Yohanes Saut (Ina) bt Cheam June Wei 21-10, 21-19; Alwi Wijaya (Ina) bt Justin Hoh 21-12, 11-2, rtd.
Men’s doubles: Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri bt Goh V Shem-Boon Xin Yuan 21-18, 21-17; Lin Bing-wei-Su Ching-heng (Tpe) bt A. Hariharan-R. Ruban Kumar (Ind) 21-10, 21-19.
Women’s singles: Lalinrat Chaiwan (Tha) bt Malvika Bansod (Ind) 21-12, 21-14; Line Christophersen (Den) bt Wen Chi-hsu (Tpe) 21-15, 12-21, 21-17.
Women’s doubles: Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa (Ind) bt Debora Jille-Cheryl Seinen (Ned) 21-12, 21-12; Sung Shuo-yun-Yu Chien-hui (Tpe) bt Setyana Mapasa-Angela Yu (Aus) 21-15, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: Mads Vestergaard-Christine Busch (Den) bt Choong Hon Jian-Go Pei Kee 21-16, 12-21, 21-7; Terry Hee-Jessica Tan (Sin) bt Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto (Ind) 21-18, 21-15.
