The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Wei Feng leads Malaysia into semis, hopes on Liew to shine in final assault
- Breakthrough for Kwong Beng in Hanoi
- Ratchanok exacts revenge on All-England champ Baun
| Wei Feng leads Malaysia into semis, hopes on Liew to shine in final assault Posted: 30 Mar 2013 04:55 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Singles shuttler Chong Wei Feng has done his duty well to lead Malaysia's team to a semi-final spot in the Axiata Cup. Now, it is Liew Daren's turn to complete Malaysia's campaign on a high at home when he finally gets into the action at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium today. The world No.12 Daren is set to take on South Korean old warrior Lee Hyun-il in the men's singles when Malaysia cross sword with Asia All Stars in the final tie of the second leg. It will be Daren's first match at home after being under the weather for the last two days. A good showing will put him on the right mood ahead of the Australian Open Grand Prix Gold at Sydney, starting on Wednesday. National singles coach Rashid Sidek said that Daren would lead the Malaysian cast as he had a fair record against Hyun-il. Daren and Hyun-il have played four times with both holding an equal number of wins. Last year, Daren lost to Hyun-il in the All-England quarter-finals but got his revenge at the Singapore Open. "We are through to the semi-finals and that is good. Today, we will play against Asia All Stars to determine our standing among the top four teams," said Rashid. "Indonesia and Thailand are set to be the top two teams going into the semi-finals. We hope to finish at least third in the standings. "We will go all out to win all four points against Asia All Stars although it will be quite difficult in the women's singles. Their women singles (Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan) is a good player," he said. Besides Daren, the others expected to be fielded are Sonia Cheah, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying and Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong. Malaysia are not fielding Tan Boon Heong-Koo Kien Keat as they will be leaving for Sydney in the evening. Yesterday, Malaysia defeated an under-strength Vietnam 4-0 and the points came through Wei Feng, Sonia, Tan Boon Heong-Lim Yin Loo and Wee Kiong-Thien How. Both Sonia and Boon Heong-Yin Loo dropped one game en route to winning their respective matches. Yin Loo was happy with the opportunity to play in the Axiata Cup although she struggled to get her game going with Boon Heong. "It was the first time that I was playing with Boon Heong and naturally, we took a longer time to get adjusted," she said. Malaysia are currently lying second in the standings with 18 points, just one point behind fancied Indonesia. Meanwhile, Asia All Stars also had a good workout yesterday when they defeated Singapore 4-0 and are lying at fourth spot with 15 points. They are two points behind third-placed Thailand. |
| Breakthrough for Kwong Beng in Hanoi Posted: 30 Mar 2013 04:55 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Coach Li Mao has weaved his magic once again – this time with former international Chan Kwong Beng. Yesterday, the 24-year-old Kwong Beng, who trains under Li Mao at the Kawasaki Badminton Club in Petaling Jaya, achieved a breakthrough when he reached his first ever men's singles final at the Ciputra Vietnam International Challenge in Hanoi yesterday. Kwong Beng defeated Pannawit Thongnuam of Thailand 21-18, 21-14 in the semi-finals to emerge as the only Malaysian survivor in the satellite tournament. National back-up player Loh Wei Sheng had failed to make it an all-Malaysian final when he went down to Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 21-10, 21-15. Earlier in the tournament, a total of 18 other Malaysian singles players had crashed out in the early rounds. The positive showing from Kwong Beng proved that his decision to turn professional in January this year was a wise one indeed. He ended his 11-year tenure with Badmin-ton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after his failure to attain any outstanding achievements. In fact, his best showing was a semi-final finish at last year's Malaysia International Challenge. Kwong Beng, who had been training under Li Mao for the last two months, will be out for a revenge against Ka Long today. He lost to Ka Long in the first round of the Vietnam Grand Prix Gold meet last year. Li Mao was Malaysia's former national singles coach. Under him, the current world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei enjoyed many breakthroughs, including beating Chinese players in convincing fashions. |
| Ratchanok exacts revenge on All-England champ Baun Posted: 30 Mar 2013 04:55 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: The win came two weeks late but it was still a sweet one for Thailand's women singles star Ratchanok Intanon when she upstaged All-England champion Tine Baun of Denmark in the second leg of the Axiata Cup at Surabaya. At Birmingham, the 19-year-old Ratchanok had let slip a chance to be the youngest ever All-England champion when she went down fighting to Baun in the final. Yesterday though, she showed maturity beyond her age to recover from a demoralising first game defeat 9-21 to turn the table on the lanky Dane for a sensational 21-13, 21-12 win. The other wins for Thailand came from Boonsak Ponsana, Sudket Prapakamol-T. Saralee and they are also looking good for a place in the semi-finals. They dropped a point in their weakest event - the men's doubles when Boonsak-A. Songphon lost 21-18, 18-21, 8-21 to Russians Ivan Sozonov-Vladimir Ivanov. Fancied Indonesia defeated the Philippines 4-0 and also confirmed their ticket for the semi-finals on April 13. They are now heading the eight-team field with a massive 19 points in the Axiata Cup standings. It could have been a flawless performance if not for reigning Malaysian Open champions Hendra Setiawan-Mohd Ahsan dropping one game against unheralded Paul J Vivas-Peter G. Magmaya before making a quick rebound to win 21-18, 17-21, 21-11. |
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