On a day when Cheam June Wei rose to the occasion to secure his first win over Lin Guipo in three outings China proved too strong for Malaysia in the mixed team quarter-finals with a 3-1 win at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium in Alor Star on Wednesday.
June Wei, 17, from Butterworth, tamed his Chinese opponent in a three set thriller, winning 21-23, 21-14, 23-21 in 68 minutes to level the score at 1-1 after China had won the mixed doubles through Huang Kaixiang-Chen Qingchen. The Chinese pair beat Tan Jinn Hwa-Goh Yea Ching 21-8, 21-7.
China regained the lead when they won the boys’ doubles through Huang Kaixiang-Zheng Siwei who beat Malaysia’s Tan Jinn Hwa-Goh Sze Wei 21-8, 21-12 .
In the girls’ singles S. Kisona was forced to retire through a knee injury in her match against He Bingjiao with the score 16-12 in favour of the Chinese to give China the winning point for a 3-1 lead and a place in the semifinals.
Malaysia’s coach Zhou Kei Jian said it would have been a different scenario if Kisona had not got injured.
“We could have got the second point through Kisona. It is unfortunate Kisona got injured (suspected ligament tear in her right knee). However, I am happy with the team’s overall performance in terms of mental and tactics,” said Kei Jian.
