KUCHING: As expected, tournament favourite Lee Hyun Il of South Korea cruised into the men’s singles semi-finals Maybank Malaysia Kuching International Challenge at Stadium Perpaduan yesterday.
Lee Hyun Il of South Korea returns a shot to Lim Chi Wing of Malaysia in the men’s singles quarterfinal match of the Maybank Malaysia Kuching International Challenge at Stadium Perpaduan yesterday. Lee won 21-16, 21-16. — Photos by Davidson Kho
The top seed dashed Malaysia’s Lim Chi Wing’s hopes of progressing further in the competition by beating him 21-16, 21-16 to set up a semi-final clash with third seeded Malaysian Zulfadli Zulkiffli.
Zulfadli had booked his semi-finals ticket after breaking the resistance from Chinese Taipei’s Lu Chia Hung, the sixth seed, 21-15, 12-21, 21-14.
Another Malaysian shuttler who made the last four was second seed Tan Chun Seang who also took three sets to tame his compatriot Goh Giap Chin 16-21, 21-14, 21-17.
Tan’s next opponent is Indonesian qualifier Ronald Susilo who came back from one set down 12-21 to beat Malaysia’s Nur Mohd Aziryn Ayub 21-8, 21-18.
In the women’s singles, giant-killer Gregoria Mariska continued with her impressive form to dispose of another seeded player Aya Ohori, the fifth seed from Japan 15-21, 21-18, 22-20 to advance to the semi-finals.
The qualifier created the biggest upset in the women’s singles competition by beating top seed Aprilla Yuswandri 13-21, 21-16, 21-19 in the last 16 match on Thursday.
Gregoria will next contend with third seed Yang Li Lian for a place in the final after the Malaysian saw off the challenge from her compatriot Lydia Cheah Li Ya 21-14, 18-21, 21-15.
The fourth seed Sannatasah Saniru, also from Malaysia, fought a thrilling match with the sixth seed Hana Ramadhini of Indonesia before winning 23-25, 21-16, 21-16.
Her semi-final opponent today is the second seed Chen Jiayuan of Singapore who eased to a 21-14, 21-16 win over Indonesia’s Ruselli Hartawan.
After upstaging top seeds Jagdish Singh-Roni Tan Wee Long of Malaysia 21-15, 21-11 in the first round of the men’s doubles, the Chinese Taipei pair of Chiang Yu-Wei and Yang Li progressed further yesterday by defeating sixth seeds from Indonesia Yohanes Rendy Sugiarto-Afiat Yuris Wirawan 21-15, 21-18 in the quarterfinals.
Their semi-final opponents are another Chinese Taipei pair of Yu Lin Chia and Wu Hsiao-Lin, who were number four seeds, beat Malaysia’s Tan Wee Gieen and Teo Ee Yi 22-20, 21-17.
The other semi-final will be between Japan’s Takuto Inoue-Yuki Kaneko and Hardianto Hardianto-Kenas Adi Haryanto of Indonesia.
In the women’s doubles, two Japanese pairs will battle with two Indonesian pairs for a place in the final.
The top seeds Ayane Kurihara-Naru Shinoya will play Nisak Puji Lestari-Rika Rositawati while Rie Eto-Aoi Matsuda will face second seeds Maretha Deo Giovani-Rosyita Eka Putri.
Meanwhile, only one Malaysian pair is left in the mixed doubles competition.
The second seeds Tan Chee Tean-Shevon Jemie Lai will meet Indonesia’s Hafiz Faisal-Shella Devi Aulia in today’s semi-finals while the unseeded Singapore pair of Terry Hee Yong Kai and Tan Wei Han will contest with the Indonesian third seeds Lukhi Apri Nugroto-Masita Mahmudin.
All the semi-final matches today will start at 2pm.