PETALING JAYA: Injury put paid to men’s singles shuttler Cheam June Wei’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the Orleans Masters.
June Wei pulled his back muscle before his last eight match against Japan’s Koo Takahashi but still decided to give it a go but ended up losing 13-21, 8-21 in Orleans on Friday.
It was a sad end for the professional shuttler June Wei as he was just getting his mojo back.
The world No. 62 had claimed an impressive victory over South Korea’s world No. 51 Jeon Hyeok-jin a day earlier.
“I feel very unfortunate with my injury today (Friday),” lamented June Wei via social media.
“I prepared well for this tournament but I pulled my upper back muscle before the match.
“I went on to complete the match and I hope I can recover soon and come back stronger.”
Despite the unfortunate exit, it was still June Wei’s best showing so far this year after he suffered early round defeats in the Thailand Masters in January and German Open earlier this month.
Meanwhile, there was better fortunes for Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri and Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin, who made it into the men’s and mixed doubles last four respectively.
Hon Jian-Haikal beat China’s Huang Di-Liu Yi 21-9, 21-18 to set up a clash against Denmark’s Andreas Sondergaard-Jasper Toft.
Pang Ron-Su Yin were also on song as they ousted Taiwan’s Chen Cheng-kuan-Hsu Yin-hui 21-18, 21-11.
The pair will take on China’s Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi next for a place in their first ever World Tour tournament final together. Malaysians onlyMen’s singles: Koo Takahashi (Jpn) bt Cheam June Wei 21-13, 21-8.
Men’s doubles: Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri bt Huang Di-Liu Yi (Chn) 21-9, 21-18.
Mixed doubles: Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin bt Chen Cheng-kuan-Hsu Yin-hui (Tpe) 21-18, 21-11.
