Men’s and women’s doubles on course for gold medal

HOPES of an all-Malaysian women’s singles final were shattered by Thailand at the Gym­nasium I of the National Sports Complex yesterday.

And it was all due to a lack of patience by our shuttlers Wong Mew Choo and Lydia Cheah.

But Malaysia’s hopes for gold medals in the women’s and men’s doubles events remained alive with Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty and Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong advancing to the finals.

Malaysia, after enjoying a high the previous day, saw Mew Choo crashing to an 18-21, 14-21 defeat by Salakjit Ponsana and Lydia going down 15-21, 21-23 to 14-year-old world junior champion Ratchanok Intanon.

Mew Choo had beaten Salakjit in the team final last Sunday to help Malaysia nail the gold medal for the first time in 34 years.

National singles chief coach Rashid Sidek attributed Mew Choo and Lydia’s defeats to their eagerness to end rallies quickly.

“The defeat of Mew Choo came as a big surprise. She is superior in terms of skills but she was in a rush to get the better of Salakjit,” he said.

“Lydia had the upper hand in the second game and, instead of playing a rally game, she too was in a hurry. They threw away a good chance to make the final,”

In the matches for the gold medal today, Eei Hui-Pei Tty will take on Singaporeans Shinta Mulia Sari-Yao Lei while Kien Keat-Boon Heong will be up against Indonesians Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan.

Markis-Hendra prevented an all-Malaysian final when they beat Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif 27-25, 15-21, 21-16 in the semi-finals yesterday. STA