PETALING JAYA: Malaysia rode on the strength of Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan to reach two semi-finals in the World Junior Championships at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, India.
Yesterday, the 18-year-old Noraqilah reached the girls’ doubles last four with Low Zi Yu after disposing of South Koreans Cheon Hye-in-Moon In-seo 7-15, 15-12, 15-12 in a thrilling match.
They will face China’s Cao Zihan-Chen Fan Shutian for a place in the final.
Earlier, Noraqilah had teamed up with Loh Zi Heng and the top seeds earned sweet revenge by beating Ikhsan Lintang-Rinjani Kwinnara of Indonesia 15-10, 15-8 to storm into the semi-finals.
It was a satisfying payback for the Malaysians, who had lost to the same Indonesian pair in the quarter-finals of the individual event at the Asian Junior Championships in July.
They will next face Hung Bing-yu-Chou Yun-an of Taiwan for a place in the final. The Taiwanese pair were in fine form as they defeated Bhavya Chhabra-Vishakha Toppo of India 15-9, 15-7.
En route to the quarter-finals, Zi Heng-Noraqilah had also taken out two Chinese pairs – Feng Yilang-Zhang Jiahan (fourth round) and Wei Jianzhen-Liang Yuen (third round).
Earlier, Tan Zhi Yang-Nicole Tan had lost 15-17, 16-14, 6-15 to Lee Hyeong-woo-Cheon Hye-in of South Korea in another hard-fought quarter-final match.
Meanwhile, Ayu Fu Sheng went down 9-15, 9-15 to Richie Duta Richardo of Indonesia in the boys’ singles quarter-finals.
Boys’ singles: Li Zhihang (Chn) bt Cyrus Chung Ching (Hkg) 15-4, 15-7; Moh Zaki Ubaidillah (Ina) bt Wu Zisheng (Chn) 15-6, 17-15; Richie Duta Richardo (Ina) bt Ayu Fu Sheng (Mas) 15-9, 15-9; Liu Yang Mingyu (Chn) bt Tankara Gnana (Ind) 15-11, 15-13.
Boys’ doubles: Alexius Ongkytama-Aquino Evano (Ina) bt Jesper Ostergaard-Aske Romer (Den) 15-9, 15-12; Chen Junting-Liu Junrong (Chn) bt Bhargav Ram-Viswa Tej (Ind) 15-12, 15-10; Cho Hyeong-woo-Lee Hyeong-woo (Kor) bt Feng Yilang-Wei Jianzhen (Chn) 15-7, 15-9; Kazuma Kawano-Shuji Sawada (Jpn) bt Chen Ping-hsuan-Lee Wei-ting (Tpe) 21-19, 15-10.
Girls’ singles: Liu Siya (Chn) bt Ranithma Liyanage (Srl) 15-9, 15-6; Yataweemin Ketklieng (Tha) bt Yuzuno Watanabe (Jpn) 15-3, 15-12; Anyapat Phichipreechasak (Tha) bt Unnati Hooda (Ind) 15-12, 15-13; Tanvi Sharma (Ind) bt Saki Matsumoto (Jpn) 13-15, 15-9, 15-10.
Girls’ doubles: Kodchapron Chaichana-Pannawee Polyiam (Tha) bt Salsabila Zahra-Jania Novalita (Ina) 15-13, 18-20, 15-13; Tan Kexuan-Wei Yueyue (Chn) bt Riska Anggraini-Rinjani Kwinnara (Ina) 15-13, 16-14; Nor Aqilah Maisarah Ramdan-Low Zi Yu (Mas) bt Cheon Hye-in-Moon In-seo (Kor) 7-15, 15-12, 15-12; Cai Zihan-Chen Fan Shutian bt Hathaithip Mijad-Napapakorn Tungkasatan (Tha) 15-13, 15-13;
Mixed doubles: Lee Hyeong-woo-Cheon Hye-in (Kor) bt Tan Zhi Yang-Nicole Tan (Mas) 17-15, 14-16, 15-6; Chen Junting-Cai Zihan (Chn) bt Shuji Sawada-Aoi Banno (Jpn) 15-3, 15-10; Hung Bing-yu-Chou Yun-an (Tpe) bt Bhavya Chhabra-Vishakha Toppo (Ind) 15-9, 15-7; Loh Zi Heng-Noraqilah Maisarah (Mas) bt Ikhsan Lintang-Rinjani Kwinnara (Ina) 15-10, 15-8.
