PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Lim Tze Jian-Wong Tien Ci kept the home hopes alive after making it into the final of the Malaysian International Challenge.
The unseeded Tze Jian-Tien Ci pulled off an impressive 21-13, 21-11 win over top seeds Kazuki Shibata-Naoki Yamada of Japan in just 33 minutes in the last four at the Arena Badminton Perak in Ipoh yesterday.
The independent pair, who only started playing together in March, have now reached their first final together.
Tze Jian-Tien Ci are the only Malaysians left in the tournament and will likely take on another Japanese pair Naoya Kawashima-Kota Ogawa for the title today.
Tze Jian-Tien Ci’s best result before this was reaching the quarter-final of the Kazakhstan International Challenge in April.
It was a disappointing day in the men’s singles when both Eogene Ewe and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin lost to Japanese opponents.
Eogene fell 13-21, 19-21 to Minoru Koga while Aidil lost out 16-21, 22-20, 11-21 to Riku Hatano.
It was also heartbreak from Yap Rui Chen when she missed out on both the women’s and mixed doubles finals.
In the women’s doubles, Rui Chen and Ng Qi Xuan found Japan’s Naru Shinoya-Nao Yamakita a tough nut to crack and went down 11-21, 13-21.
Shinoya-Yamakita will face teammates Hinata Suzuki-An Uesugi in the final.
In the mixed doubles, Rui Chen and Lau Yi Sheng suffered a 14-21, 8-21 defeat at the hands of Indonesia’s Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina.
The final will be an all-Indonesian affair between Amri-Nita and Adnan Maulana-Indah Cahaya.
In the women’s singles, Japan’s Riko Gunji will play Indonesia’s Ruzana Ruzana.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
(Malaysians unless stated)
Men’s singles: Minoru Koga (Jpn) bt Eogene Ewe 21-13, 21-19; Riku Hatano (Jpn) bt Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin 21-16, 20-22, 21-11.
Men’s doubles: Lim Tze Jian-Wong Tien Ci bt Kazuki Shibata-Naoki Yamada (Jpn) 21-13, 21-11.
Women’s singles: Riko Gunji (Jpn) bt Chiara Marvella (Ina) 21-19, 21-17; Ruzana Ruzana (Ina) bt MutiaraAyu (Ina) 18-21, 21-11, 21-19.
Women’s doubles: Naru Shinoya-NaoYamakita (Jpn) bt Ng Qi Xuan-Yap Rui Chen 21-11, 21-13; Hinata Suzuki-An Uesugi (Jpn) bt Maki Uchiyama-Tsukiko Yasaki (Jpn) 21-16, 21-17.
Mixed doubles: Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina (Ina) bt LauYi Sheng-Yap Rui Chen 21-14, 21-8;Adnan Maulana-Indah Cahya (Ina) bt Bobby Setiabudi-Melati Daeva (Ina) 25-23, 21-15.
