Malaysia men’s singles shuttler Justin Hoh in action against Algeria’s Mohamed Abderrahim Belarbi during the group match of Thomas Cup Finals at Hi-Tech Sports Centre in Chengdu, China on Sunday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
BANGKOK: Men’s singles shuttler Justin Hoh (pic) is ready to play a key role again when Malaysia take on Indonesia in a mouthwatering showdown in the SEA Games men’s team final tomorrow.
Justin, who has been struggling for form lately, rose to the occasion to deliver a valuable point to help Malaysia beat hosts Thailand in a tricky semi-final tie at the Thammasat University in Pathum Thani yesterday.
The world No. 38 stayed cool to secure a commanding 21-10, 21-17 win over world No. 39 Panitchapon Teeraratsakul in 40 minutes.
Malaysia went on to win the tie 3-1 with men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun delivering the other two points.
While happy with his charge’s performance, singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen insisted that the victory was a team effort and similar spirit would be needed to overcome the Indonesians.
“In a team event I don’t like to single out individuals performances but Justin was very solid today (yesterday),” said Jonassen.
“We knew it was going to be hard work against the home team with a strong support behind them but we won and can be proud of it.
“Our focus is on the final against Indonesia.”
Malaysia will continue to bank on Aaron-Wooi Yik and Wei Chong-Kai Wun to maintain their form.
The world No. 2 duo showed their experience to come away with a 21-18, 21-19 victory over Supak Jomkoh-Peeratchai Sukphun while their world No. 5 teammates had to dig deeper to beat Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul 21-14, 18-21, 21-17 in a match lasting exactly an hour.
Earlier, Leong Jun Hao went down 15-21, 15-21 to 2023 world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Indonesia will post an even bigger threat after denying Malaysia the gold in the 2023 edition in Cambodia.
The badminton powerhouses defeated Singapore 3-1 in the other last four tie.
Malaysia though will be keen to end a two-decade wait for the men’s team gold after last tasting success at the 2005 edition in the Philippines.
Men’s team: Malaysia bt Thailand 3-1 (Leong Jun Hao lost to Kunlavut Vitidsarn 15-21, 15-21; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Supak Jomkoh-Peeratchai Sukphun 21-18, 21-19; Justin Hoh bt Panitchapon Teeraratsakul 21-10, 21-17; Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun bt Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul 21-14, 18-21, 21-17); Indonesia bt Singapore 3-1 (Alwi Farhan lost to Loh Kean Yew 15-21, 21-14, 8-21; Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza bt Wesley Koh-Junsuke Kubo 21-18, 18-21, 21-10; Moh Zaki Ubaidillah bt Jason Teh 21-2, 21-13; Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana bt Donovan Wee-Wong Jia Hao 21-12, 21-19).
Women’s team: Thailand bt Singapore 3-0 (Pornpawee Chochuwong bt Insyirah Khan 21-14, 21-15; Benyapa Aimsaard-Supissara Paewsampran bt Jin Yu Jia-Li Zheng Yan 21-6, 21-10; Ratchanok Intanon bt Megan Xin Yi 21-8, 21-10); Indonesia bt Malaysia 3-2 (Putri Kusuma bt K. Letshanaa 21-9, 21-10; Rachel Allesya-Febi Setianingrum lost to Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah 14-21, 21-17, 16-21; Gregoria Mariska lost to Wong Ling Ching 20-22, 21-15, 16-21; Mutiara Ayu bt Siti Zulaikha Azmi 21-18, 21-16).
