Perak: Lee Chong Wei showed us how he truly is the maestro of badminton, even in mixed doubles, when he and Vivian Hoo dominated for control of the momentum on the court, displaying a perfect understanding and use of the sport’s geometry, to defeat No. 2 seeds Tan Chee Tean/ Shevon Lai 21-11, 21-15 and to lift the Perak Open mixed doubles title on Thursday.
This was the pair’s second mixed doubles champion on their own home turf. They have won the 2012 Selangor Open mixed double after seeing off the No. 1 mixed doubles pair of Malaysia Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying 21-15, 27-25.
After the mixed doubles final was over, I couldn’t help but think: if the professional Malaysian mixed doubles pairs, i.e. the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds could not even beat the mixed doubles part-timers, such as Lee Chong Wei and Vivian Hoo, how are they going to compete against other top mixed doubles pairs from China, Korea, England or Denmark? Well, we’re going to have to leave it there, and let Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to solve the problems.
In men’s singles, after two final disappointments in the local circuit, defeated by Goh Soon Huat 16-21, 15-21 in the Sabah Open December last year, and lost to Chong Wei Feng in the 2012 Selangor Open with 21-12, 8-21, 14-21, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin could finally afford some bragging rights after coming off a straight-set winning run over Soong Joo Ven 21-11, 21-19 to bag the Perak Open men’s singles title for his first-ever local title. As for Soong Joo Ven, he played very well and also deserved an applause, especially when he almost forced a decider by rallying from 14-20 to 19-20 in the second set.
No. 1 seed Tee Jing Yi ended the giant-killing streak of 16-year-old unseeded Goh Jin Wei in two well-contested games 21-16, 21-11 to clinch the women’s singles title at the Perak Open.
Lim Yin Loo/Soong Fie Cho and Lee Meng Yean/Vivian Hoo were engaged in a see-saw battle that saw the two pairs trade sets until the third, when Lim Yin Loo/Soong Fie Cho delivered the knockout punches with a 21-18 win in the decisive game. Lim/Soong lost the first set 18-21, but took the second set 21-15.
Two non-BAM men’s doubles pairs – Mohd Arif Abdul Latif/Nur Mohd Azriyn Bin Ayub and Darren Isaac A/L Devadas/Vountus Indra Mawan were exchanging some very fast and quick rallies in the men’s doubles final before Mohd Arif Abdul Latif/Nur Mohd Azriyn Bin Ayub who were also outstanding singles players, drained the stubbornness and resistance of Darren Isaac A/L Devadas/Vountus Indra with 21-19, 21-19 to triumph at the Perak Open.
