PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Lim Boon Le (pic) impressed against China in the quarter-finals of the Asian Junior Championships mixed team event but it was not enough to prevent Malaysia from suffering defeat.
The 17-year-old Boon Le did well to beat Xiao Gaobo 11-9 in the opening boys’ singles match but all his teammates went down in their respective matches, resulting in the team losing 64-110 in Solo, Indonesia, yesterday.
Malaysia had to face defending champions and Group C winners China in the last eight after losing 92-110 to hosts Indonesia in their last Group B match a day earlier.
The exit meant that the team could not match their bronze medal win last year in Yogyakarta.
The defeats to Indonesia and China also showed that the junior coaches had work to do to help the youngsters close the gap to the two nations.
Team manager Leong Kin Weng acknowledged that China proved too strong for Malaysia but believes that the players gained valuable experience ahead of the individual event which starts tomorrow.
“I saw that Boon Le performed well in today’s (yesterday) match. The rest of players also tried hard but China is simply too strong.
“Overall, I think this is a good exposure for our young players. I still hope that they will perform well in the coming individual event.”
Malaysia also did not win a medal in the mixed team event in the 2023 edition which was also held in Yogyakarta.
The last time the team won the title was in 2009 at home in Kuala Lumpur.
In the individual event, World Junior Championships girls’ doubles silver medallists Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu will be one of Malaysia’s best bet for a medal.
RESULTS
Quarter-finals
China bt Malaysia 110-64 (Xiao Gaobo lost to Lim Boon Le 9-11; Xu Wenjing bt Eng Ler Qi 22-17; Chen Fan Shutian-Tan Kexuan bt Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu 33-27; Li Hongyi-Cao Zihan bt Loh Ziheng-Nuraqilah Maisarah Ramdan 44-30; Chen Junting-Liu Junrong bt Damien Ling-Mohd Shazmir Irfan 55-39; Liu Yang Mingyu bt Kong Wei Xiang 66-44; Yin Yiqing bt Lim Zhi Shin 77-48; Chen Fan Shutian-Tan Kexuan bt Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu 88-56; Junting-Junrong bt Ziheng-Ahmad Redzuan Zulwaqqarizal 110-64); Thailand bt Hong Kong 110-98; Japan bt India 110-104; South Korea bt Indonesia 110-109.
