Malaysia’s hope Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying held their nerves to march into the mixed doubles semi-finals in the USD700,000 Daihatsu Yonex Japan Open in Tokyo on Friday.
In the quarter-finals played at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza, the Malaysians finally got the better of Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti for a 21-19, 20-22, 21-17 win in 67 minutes.
In the process, the Rio Olympics silver medal winners ended a two-match losing streak to the Indonesians this year, having lost to them in the India Open in January and the German Open in March.
The Peng Soon-Liu Ying pair, however, has a tough hurdle to clear for a place in Sunday’s final. They face top seeds and title favourites Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong of China.
While Peng Soon-Liu Ying kept the Malaysian flag flying, it was the end of the road for another Malaysian pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie.
The sixth seeds went down in straight games 18-21, 6-21 to second seeds Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping of China in only 37 minutes. RIZAL ABDULLAHÂ
