Malaysian badminton duo fall at final hurdle

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s national doubles players Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui fell short again in their bid to win their first major international title at the Invitational World Cup in Yi Yang, China yesterday. 

After a tight battle in the first game, the duo went down 19-21, 13-21 to Indonesian Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in the men’s doubles final. 

Their performances yesterday was a pale shadow of the great fight they displayed en route to upsetting world champions Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China just a day ago in the semi-finals. 

It was the duo’s third defeat to the Indons - having also lost at this year’s Indonesian Open and the Thomas Cup qualifying round. 

Despite the defeat, it was still a just reward especially for Fairuzizuan, who had to forgo the Hari Raya celebration with his family in Taiping to play in the meet. 

Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui pocketed US$8,437.50 (about RM15,400) for their runners-up spot while the champions took back home a whopping US$17,437.50 (RM63,673). 

As for the Indonesians, it was third Open title this year after winning the Hong Kong and China Opens.  

The 22-year-old Fairuzizuan, who had his share of many unforced errors yesterday, was disappointed. 

“It is sad to lose like this after coming all the way to this stage,” lamented Fairuzizuan in a telephone interview from Yi Yang yesterday. 

“We were determined to give them a good fight but our tactics did not work against them. They did not give us much opportunity to play our normal attacking game,” he said. 

Said the 22-year-old Woon Fui: “I am also unhappy with the outcome today. The Indons were better – tactic wise. But overall, it has been a good outing for us.” 

Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui’s previous best effort this year was reaching the Malaysian Open final and the All-England semi-finals. 

The youngsters, who will replace veterans Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah for the Asian Games in Doha (Dec 1-15), will now take part in the Denmark Open (Oct 31-Nov 5) in Aarhus.  

Yesterday, Indonesia also sealed another title in the World Cup when Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir tamed China’s Xie Zhongbo-Zhang Yawen 21-16, 21-18 in the mixed doubles final. 

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old Wang Yihan produced the biggest upset of the tournament when she knocked out world champion Xie Xingfang 21-18, 21-19 in the women’s singles to win her first major title. 

Xingfang’s boyfriend Lin Dan also almost faced a similar fate yesterday but he fought back to beat a gritty compatriot Chen Yu 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 in the men’s singles final. 

RESULTS 

MEN’S SINGLES: Lin Dan (Chn) bt Chen Yu (Chn) 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 

MEN’S DOUBLES: Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui (Mas) 21-19, 21-13 

WOMEN’S SINGLES: Wang Yihan (Chn) bt Xie Xingfang (Chn) 21-18, 21-19 

WOMEN’S DOUBLES: Gao Ling-Huang Sui (Chn) bt Yang Wei-Zhang Jiewen (Chn) 21-19, 21-6 

MIXED DOUBLES: Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) bt Xie Zhongbo-Zhang Yawen (Chn) 21-16, 21-18