Defending champions Kedah booked their place in the semifinals of the Boys’ Under-16 team 100LUS National Interstate U12 & U16 Team Championships 2024 in style when they stormed past Selangor 2-0 at the Penang Badminton Association (PBA) Hall.
Up against last year’s runners-up Selangor, the northerners grabbed their first point in the Boys’ Singles with Lai Man Tat squaring against a determined Tiew Wei Jie.
In the duel that lasted close to an hour, Man Tat emerged victorious 21-14, 21-12.
Kedah then made sure of their place in the next round of the championships when the pair of Mohd Danish Haiqal Mohd Noor-Lee Kai Xun delivered the second point in the Boys’ Doubles.
Mohd Danish-Kai Xun just took over half an hour to chalk a 21-19 21-10 win over Selangor’s Oh Wei En-Muhamad Syakirin.
In the meantime, host Penang kept the state flag flying with a place in the semifinals of the meet this year.
The team, which had finished fourth last year, overcame a gritty Pahang side 2-1 in their quarterfinal clash.
Kong Wei Xiang gave the home team the cheer in the first Boys’ Singles when he coast to a hard-earned 21-10, 21-15 win over Chia Chong Kim that took 45 minutes to complete.
However, Pahang fought back to draw level in the Boys’ Doubles with Muhammad Shazmir Irfan Shahrul-Wong Yun Hang making short work of Khaw Kai Shyang-Low Quan Yi 21-19, 21-17.
With a place in the next round on the line, the second Boys’ Singles would see a long and arduous 82-minute battle before Louis Lee Qi Jun could haul in the all-important point as he made past Arshdip Singh Darshan Singh 21-13, 16-21, 21-17.
With the win, Penang will take on Kedah in the semifinals of the Boys’ U16 team while the other tie will see Melaka taking on Kuala Lumpur.
Melaka overcame Kelantan 2-0 while Kuala Lumpur edged Putrajaya by the same scoreline.
