Malaysia’s challenge at China Masters ends in semis

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s challenge in the China Masters badminton championship has ended after mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying lost in the semifinals at the Olympics Centre in Changzhou yesterday.

They lost to Chinese pair Xu Chen/Ma Jin 11-21, 11-21 in 36 minutes.

It will be an all China mixed doubles final as Zheng Siwei/Chen Qingchen overcame Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino of Japan in 13-21, 21-16, 21-17 in the other semi-final tie, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website www.bwfbadminton.org.

The country’s challenge in three other events – men’s singles and doubles and also the women’s doubles event – fizzled out in the preliminary round.

Malaysia did not send any representatives in the women’s singles in the tournament which offers total prize money of US$250,000 (RM974,035).

The Grand Prix Gold is among the last two tournaments for the Asian shuttlers to clinch world ranking points before the deadline for the Rio Olympic Games qualification ends after the conclusion of the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) in Wuhan, China at the end of the month. — Bernama