It was triple blow for Malaysia as all their remaining doubles pairs at the Badminton Asia Championships were shown the exit in the quarter-finals in Jianbei.
Women’s doubles second seeds Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan, bowed out tamely 13-21, 15-21 to eighth seeded Li Yijing-Luo Ximin of China.
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, the men’s doubles second seeds ran out of steam in their 93-minute battle with the unseeded Korean duo of Kang Min Hyuk-Ki Dong-ju. The Koreans battled past the Malaysians 21-19, 28-26, 21-13 to move into the semi-finals.
Also out is reigning mixed doubles world champions Cheng Tan Jie-Toh Ee Wei. Unseeded Korean duo Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong carved out an impressive 21-19, 21-17 win over the third seeds.
With the defeats, Malaysia will go empty handed from the regional championships and questions raised on the squad’s readiness for the Thomas and Uber Cup tournaments later this month.
Unseeded US Open champion Ayush Shetty of India will be the only unseeded player in the men’s singles semi-finals. The upcoming lad upset third seeded Jonatan Christie of Indonesia to book a semi-final clash against top seeded Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
The other semi-finals will see second seed Shi Yuqi taking on Taiwanese Chou Tien-chen, who disposed of former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 16-21, 21-12, 21-17.
There will also be an unseeded player in the women’s singles last four. Unheralded Sim Yu-jin of Korea defeated Japanese veteran and former world champion Nozomi Okuhara 21-18, 21-11 in her quarter-final tie.
Yu-jin faces an uphill task against top seed An Se-young in the semi-finals, Se-young seeking her first Asian crown defeated Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki 21-16, 21-10 in her last eight match.
The other semi-finals will pit China’s Wang Zhiyi against Japan’s fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi.
Zhiyi, had defeated Se-young for the All-England title last month and showed her intent at the championships with a polished 21-13, 21-15 win over Japan’s Riko Gunji.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
MEN’S SINGLES: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Weng Hongyang (Chn) 20-22, 21-9, 21-9; Ayush Shetty (Ind) bt Jonathan Christie (Ina) 23-21, 21-17; Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt Loh Kean Yew (Sgp) 16-21, 21-12, 21-17; Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-18, 21-18
MEN’S DOUBLES:
Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Ali Faathir Rayhan-Devin Artha Wahyudi (Ina) 21-18, 21-13; He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (Chn) bt Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) 21-19, 21-15; Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Lee Fang-Chih-Lee Fang-Jen (Tpe) 21-15, 21-18; Kang Min-hyak-Ki Dong-ju (Kor) bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) 19-21, 28-26, 21-13
WOMEN’S SINGLES: An Se-young (Kor) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 21-16, 21-10; Sim Yu-jin (Kor) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-18, 21-11; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Gao Fangjie (Chn) 21-23, 21-11 21-13; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Riko Gunji (Jpn) 21-13, 21-15
WOMEN’S DOUBLES:
Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Hsieh Pei Shen-Hung En-Tzu (Tpe) 21-14, 21-13; Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi-Siti Fadlia Silva Ramadhanti (Ina) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-12, 21-16; Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto bt (Jpn) bt Rachel Allessya Rose-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) 21-11, 21-16; Li Yijing-Luo Xumin (Chn) bt Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan (Mas) 21-13, 21-15
MIXED DOUBLES: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Chen Cheng Kuan-Hsu Yin-Hui (Tpe) 21-10, 21-18; Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) 19-21, 21-17, 21-15; Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguichi (Jpn) bt Yang Po-Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang (Tpe) 26-24, 21-16; Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong (Kor) bt Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) 21-19, 21-17
