KOTA KINABALU: Three Malaysian doubles pairs emerged champions at the finals of the Axiata Celcom International Badminton Championship (AIBC) here yesterday.
However, national men and women’s singles players R Satheishtharan and Ho Yen Mei, who also played at the finals, lost to their opponents.
The national squad’s victories started with the national mixed doubles pair of Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie who beat the Taiwanese pair of Yang Po-Hsuan, Hao Yun Wen in straight sets 21-13, 21-17 in 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, the men’s doubles pair of Chooi Kah Ming-Low Juan Shen trounced their opponents, Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han, also from Taiwan, in straight sets 21-9 and 21-13, in 30 minutes.
The national women’s doubles pair of Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean beat China’s Jiang Binbin-Tang Pingyang in a hard-fought 21-17, 17-21, 21-15.
The national women’s singles player, Yen Mei, who is ranked 57th in the world, lost 17-21 and 11-21 to Sayaka Takahashi of Japan.
Suffering similar fate was national men’s singles player, Satheishtharan who lost 21-9, 21-16, 21-12 to Panji Ahmad Maulana of Indonesia. — Bernama