PETALING JAYA: Men's doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun admitted that their poor defence proved costly as they suffered another defeat to world No. 1 Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae in the Korean Open semi-finals on Saturday (Nov 7).
Wei Chong-Kai Wun were hoping to end their losing streak against the defending champions but the Korean pair proved too strong as they went down 17-21, 17-21 in 39 minutes at the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu.
It was their seventh straight defeat to the Koreans since their first meeting at the Orleans Masters in 2025.
Wei Chong admitted that they struggled to deal with their opponents' powerful smashes, which exposed weaknesses in their defence.
"My defence was not really good because I couldn't return some of their smashes," said Wei Chong in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Kai Wun shared the same view, saying they tried not to give the Koreans opportunities to attack.
"Our defence was not good today, so we didn't want to lift the shuttle too easily. But we didn't do so well," said Kai Wun.
Despite the defeat, Wei Chong-Kai Wun could still take positives from their campaign after becoming the first Malaysian men's doubles pair in eight years to reach the semi-finals of the Korean Open.
The last pair to achieve the feat were Choi Kah Ming-Low Juan Shen in 2018.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun will now turn their attention to the Japan Masters in Kumamoto, which begins on Tuesday (Nov 10).
Seeded eighth, they will face either Taiwan's He Zhi-wei-Huang Jui-hsuan or Thailand's Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul, who will meet in the qualifying round, in their opening match.
