* Tee Jing Yee overcomes pain and cramps to win her match
* Liew Daren stuns seven-time France champion Leverdez
* Asia stun Thailand 3-1
WITH a heavily bandaged right knee, Malaysia’s No 1 woman shuttler Tee Jing Yee fought pain and overcame cramps in her left calf in the rubber set to stun Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour 21-11, 14-21, 21-18 to bounce back with a 4-0 win over All-Star Europe – a win that will enhance Malaysia’s semi-final hopes after two successive defeats at the hands of Indonesia (4-0) and Thailand (3-1).
The 23-year-old from Penang even received a verbal warning from the umpire as she took time to serve but it only made the Malaysian all the determined not to give up as her teammates cheered her on. And she responded like a wounded tiger although her movements were restricted and limping on the court.
It were the longest 53 minutes on court for ‘Ah Yee’ as her teammates call her. Jing Yee had to take pain killers before the match to overcome the pain in her knee – knowing that the team needed her to win her match after Malaysia’s semi-final hopes took a dive when the points were rectified from two points for a win and one point for a draw. Instead points are now awarded for number of matches won.
The “angry Malaysians” went into the match with a fired up Liew Daren teaching Europe’s seven-time France national champion Brice Leverdez with a 21-13, 14-21, 21-18 win in 57 minutes for Malaysia’s first point, It was just what Malaysia needed and Jing Yee needed.
Coach Pang Cheh Chang who has been rotating his doubles players after Goh V Shem was ruled out through injury, fielded the scratch pair of Tan Boon Heong-Tan Wee Kiong against Russians Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov, ranked No 21 in the world. The Malaysians prevailed against the reigning European champions with a come-from-behind 21-23, 21-8, 21-12 win.
The fight was on as the fired up Malaysians made clean sweep when the scratch pair of Chan Peng Soon-Lai Pei Jing pulled off a stunning 21-16, 23-21 win over world No 19 Rober Blair-Imogen Bankier of Scotland.
The win moved Malaysia into fourth place in the table standings with 11 points. Indonesia leads with 18 points from five matches after their 4-0 whitewash of Singapore. Thailand, despite their 3-1 defeat to All-Star Asia remained second with 15 minutes while Asia are third on 12 points. Europe are fifth on 10 points.
“We are not concerned with the outcome of other ties…we are only concerned with our matches to make the top four. The players are disappointed that it was different rules before the tournament started and different rules were brought into the picture today (Monday),” said an upset Cheh Chang.
Thailand never found their rhythm after losing the men’s and women’s singles through Boonsak Ponsana and Ratchanok Intanon who were beaten Hu Yun (Hong Kong) and Tai Tzu Ying (Taiwan). Their solitary point came through the men’s doubles pair of Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon Puangpuapech.
RESULTS
MALAYSIA 4 EUROPE 0
(Malaysia first)
Men’s singles
Liew Daren beat Brice Leverdez (Fra) 21-13, 14-21, 21-18
Women’s singles
Tee Jing Yee beat Kirsty Gilmour (Scot) 21-11, 14-21, 21-18
Men’s doubles
Tan Boon Heong-Tan Wee Kiong beat Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov (Rus) 21-23, 21-8, 21-12
Chan Peng Soon-Lai Pei Jing beat Robert Blair-Imogen Bankier
THAILAND 1 ASIA 3
(Thailand first)
Men’s singles
Boonsak Ponsana lost to Hu Yun (Hkg) 21-23, 21-8, 14-21
Women singles
Ratchanok Intanon lost Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) 16-21, 18-21
Men’s doubles
Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon Puangpuapech beat Manu Attri-Sumeeth Reddy (Ind) 13-21, 21-16, 21-14
Mixed doubles
Sudket Prapakamol-Saralee Thoungthongkam lost to Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi Wah (Hkg) 21-13, 19-21, 21-17
