Kuala Lumpur: The BAM Invitational Championships has been full of twists and turns, with some players who were expected to clinch the title, ended up beaten by opponents with lower world rankings, and some had to withdraw from the tournament due to exhaustion by playing too many matches in a short amount of time.
After World No. 10 Lee Zii Jia, World No. 41 Daren Liew, and World No. 67 Soong Joo Ven have pulled out from the tournament, World No. 157 Leong Jun Hao and World No. 134 Ng Tze Yong are going to take on each other for the BAM Invitational Championships title.
It’s worth noting that World No. 74 Cheam June Wei who lost to Ng Tze Yong on Friday with 12-21, 15-21, was eliminated from the final contention after having lower points comparisons compared to Leong, Ng, even though all three of shared same records of 3 wins and 1 loss.
“I am not going to think too much about the final,” said Leong after the match.
“I will try to look at Jun Hao’s game, and hopefully I will try to play a little differently in the final,” said Ng. Ng lost to Leong Jun Hao 17-21, 15-21 Friday morning, before beating Cheam Friday night.
In men’s doubles, World No. 9 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik were at their battling best with a narrow win over World No. 14 Tan Wee Kiong/Goh V Shem 16-21, 21-9, 21-19 on Saturday.
They will now be looking to exact the revenge of their loss to World No. 15 Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin Friday morning. Teo/Ong beat Chia/Soh 21-18, 21-13 in the men’s doubles Group A final.
“We are not going to look at our previous records. We will start every game from scratch,” said Chia.
“Since we already reached the final, I am going to just enjoy the game,” said Teo after the match.
