GLASGOW: Defending champions Malaysia suffered a scare before seeing off hosts Scotland to progress to the last four of the Commonwealth Games badminton 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.
Malaysia, without top ranked Lee Chong Wei through injury, recovered well to progress despite a vociferous and partisan home crowd.
Wei Feng Chong comfortably beat Kieran Merrilees in the men’s singles competition 21-16, 21-14 before a brave performance from Kirsty Gilmour, who had strapping on her wrist, was not enough enough to prevent her from going down 21-10, 21-15 to Jing Tee.
Tan Wee Kiong and Goh Wei Shem ensured there would be no further worries for Malaysia with a 21-12, 21-15 victory against Martin Campbell and Patrick MacHugh.
Chong insisted afterwards that he will struggle to live up to the standards of Lee as he copes with the expectation now he is the highest ranked player in the Malaysian side.
“No, not really,” he said. “His standard is higher than the others. The match was not easy. There was pressure on me to deliver for Malaysia.”
“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.” — AFP