Glasgow: Defending champions Malaysia suffered a scare before downing hosts Scotland to progress to the semi-final of the Commonwealth Games badminton mixed team event.
Chan Peng Soon and Lai Pei Jing were beaten in the opening rubber of the knockout stages by mixed doubles pairing by Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier 22-24, 21-9, 21-11 in a match lasting 64 minutes.
World number 18 Chong Wei Feng was able to level the score by knocking off Kieran Merrilees in the men’s singles competition 21-16 21-14. However, the match ended with some controversial line calls against the Scotland player.
“I was unhappy with the line call at an important stage. It seemed like the official wasn’t watching the game and I could tell the opponent saw it was in. I think that was a crucial point for me and the turning point of the game,” said Kieran Merrilees.
Tee Jing Yi put Malaysia back in the lead with her upset victory against Kirsty Gilmour 21-10, 21-15 in 34 minutes. Gilmour, who ranked 16 places higher in the world than Tee Jing Yi was extremely disappointed after the match.
The world number 17 said: “That was not even close to my best.”
“It feels like I am usually a banker, with my world ranking and usual high performances – but that wasn’t one of them there,” said Gilmour.
“But she played really well – I can’t take that away from her. I couldn’t find a way through her,” added Gilmour.
Tan Wee Kiong and Goh V Shem ensured there would be no further worries for Malaysia with a 21-12, 21-15 victory against Martin Campbell and Patrick MacHugh.
“The noise was not good for us, but we have to get used to it,” added Tan. “We expected to win today but Scotland did a great job. We were a bit surprised by them especially in the mixed doubles.”
Second seeds England eased into a semi-final against India as they beat surprise quarter-finalists Sri Lanka 3-0 without losing a game.
India won through after beating Canada 3-1, while Singapore brushed aside Australia 3-0 and will face Malaysia next.
