PETALING JAYA: Professional shuttler Cheam June Wei underlined his intent to win a place in the Thomas Cup squad by reaching the China Masters semi-finals yesterday.
The 29-year-old upstaged second seed and compatriot Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin 6-21, 21-10, 21-17 in the quarter-finals.
Aidil is one of the Thomas Cup trainees and is expected to be named as the third singles player for the Finals from April 24-May 3 in Horsens, Denmark.
June Wei, who was the Azerbaijian International runner-up, will take on China’s Sun Chao for a place in the final.
If June Wei wins, he will face top seed Prahdiska Bagas of Indonesia, who got a free ride into the final after his semi-final opponent Park Sang-yong of South Korea withdrew from the competition.
All other Malaysian representatives had crashed out in the early rounds. They are Ong Zhen Yi, Huan Kai Hern, Tan Jia Jie, Lee Jan Jireh, Darrell Chew, Jacky Kok, and Kong Zhiu Swin.
Malaysia’s challenge also ended early in the women’s singles with the defeat of Goh Jin Wei and S. Kisona in the first and second rounds respectively.
