INCHEON, Sept 25 — Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallists Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei set up a chance to become Malaysia’s first medal winners in women’s doubles badminton in 44 years after moving into the semifinals today.
Hoo-Khe Wei who shocked 2013 World champions Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang of China at the Gyeyang Gymnasium yesterday, continued their winning momentum by beating Macau pair Wang Rong/Zhang Zhibo 21-15, 18-21, 21-19 to book a place in the semifinals.
In the Asian Games badminton competition, losing semifinalists are awarded bronze medal.
Yesterday, Hoo/Khe Wei stunned Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang, the losing finalist at this year’s World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark after coming from a game down to win 17-21, 21-11, 22-20.
“I am very happy to be on the verge of creating history. We were a little tense in the match because we desperately wanted to win. In the second game especially, we made numerous mistakes because we wanted to win the match quickly but luckily we managed to control our emotion in the deciding game,” said Khe Wei, 25.
The duo are expected to meet Japan’s Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi, the top seeds in the competition as the Japanese pair are down to face Thailand’s Duanganong Aroonkesorn/Kunchala Voravichitchaikul, later.
“We will have to analyse our opponents tomorrow. If our opponents are from Japan, they will certainly be tough opponents and we have not beaten them before, just like the Chinese pair,” said Hoo, 24.
Meanwhile, the men’s doubles pair of Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong moved into the quarterfinals after beating Thailand’s Wannawat Ampunsuwan/Patiphat Chalardchalaem 21-19, 15-21, 21-15 in three sets.
V Shem-Wee Kiong are also expected to face Japanese opposition as Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa will be playing against unheralded Pakistani pair Muhammad Irfan Saeed Bhatti/Umer Zeeshan. — Bernama
