Good job: Men’s doubles pair Mohd Faiq Masawi (left) and Lok Hong Quan beat teammates Isyraf Hafizin Ibrahim-Ahmad Redzuan Zulwaqqarizal 17-21, 21-14, 21-16 in the final. — BAM
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Mohd Faiq Masawi-Lok Hong Quan could be combined together in the World Junior Championships after the duo put up a smashing show to capture the Malaysian Junior International Challenge title.
Faiq-Hong Quan lived up to their top seed status with a hard-fought 17-21, 21-14, 21-16 win over teammates Isyraf Hafizin Ibrahim-Ahmad Redzuan Zulwaqqarizal in a thrilling final in Kangar yesterday.
The former had finished runners-up to the country’s top junior pair Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing in the tournament last year but this time the latter were not fielded and Faiq-Hong Quan stepped up in their absence to come away with their first title this year.
National junior head coach Jeffer Rosobin was pleased with his charges’ performance and said that Faiq-Hong Quan could be considered for the world junior meet from Sept 30-Oct 13 in Nanchang, China.
“Faiq-Hong Quan played well and it’s good to see them win their first title this year,” said Jeffer.
“Hopefully, they can keep performing well in higher level tournaments. We have a plan for them for the world junior meet and we want them to become a more solid pair. As for Isyraf and Redzuan, they are a talented young pair too and we hope they can build on this performance.”
In the Asian Junior meet in June, Faiq only competed in the men’s singles while Hong Quan played in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles with Goh Yi Qin and Clarissa San respectively.
Both Faiq and Hong Quan did not manage to win medals in the individual events but did help the team to claim bronze in the mixed team.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles in the home tourney, another home pair Wee Yee Tern-Nicole Tan had to settle for runners-up after going down 13-21, 13-21 to South Korea’s Lee Hyeong-woo-Cheon Hye-In.
(Malaysians unless stated)
Men’s singles: Cho Hyeon-woo (Kor) bt Yang Byeong-geon (Kor) 20-22, 21-11, 21-19.
Men’s doubles: Mohd Faiq Masawi-Lok Hong Quan bt Isyraf Hafizin Ibrahim-Ahmad Redzuan Zulwaqqarizal 17-21, 21-14, 21-16.
Women’s singles: Kim Do-yeon (Kor) bt Kim Min-ji (Kor) 13-21, 22-20, 21-19.
Women’s doubles: Chon Hye-in-Kim Tae-yeon (Kor) bt Kim Min-ji-Kim So-hee (Kor) 24-22, 17-21, 21-16.
Mixed doubles: Lee Hyeong-woo-Cheon Hye-In (Kor) bt Wee Yee Tern-Nicole Tan 21-13, 21-13.
