Kuching: There were quite a few Malaysian shuttlers that took the courts at Malaysia Masters on Friday, but in the end, only Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong and Chan Peng Soon/Lai Pei Jing blasted their way into Malaysia Masters’ semifinals at the Stadium Perpaduan, Kuching.
The men’s doubles pair of Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong took 30 minutes to dispose off compatriots Lim Khim Wah/Ow Yao Han 21-18, 21-13. The pair will be up against eighth seeds Chen Hung Ling/Wang Chi Lin of Taiwan in the semi-final. The Taiwanese pair prevailed to the semifinal after trouncing Malaysian youngsters Chooi Kah Ming-Teo Kok Siang 19-21, 21-11, 25-23.
Chan Peng Soon/Lai Pei Jing fought off tough charges from the opposing Indonesian doubles team of Fran Kurniawan/Komala Dewi on Friday morning winning 21-9, 22-24, 21-10 in 55 minutes, and picked up another victory in the afternoon over Alan Chan Yun Lung/Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong. Chan/Lai will square off against number 1 seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen of Denmark on Saturday.
All three Malaysian men’s singles players – Daren Liew, Soo Teck Zhi, and Mohd Arif Abdul Latif were stretching their opponents fully before losing in the rubber game on Friday.
“I won the first set over Lee Hyun-Il, and was leading 19-14 in the second set, but I just couldn’t finish the set and ended up losing 20-22. I was completely exhausted in the third set to let victory slip out of my hands,” said Arif.
