KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — Malaysia will face Thailand for a place in the final of the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships in Bilbao, Spain after beating Thailand yesterday.
“It required a lot of preparation,” said men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia.
“I had faith in my team we could better last year’s performance.”
A year ago, the team finished fifth.
Mixed pair Ooi Zi Heng and Pearly Tan Koong Le got off to a rocky start as Rinov Rivaldy and Apriani Rahayu beat them 18-21, 21-14, 21-14.
Zii Jia levelled when he beat Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-15, 21-11 in just 29 minutes.
Third in line was reigning world junior champion, Goh Jin Wei who outfoxed Gregoria Mariska 25-23, 21-12 to take a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head meetings.
In the Badminton Asia Junior Championships (Mixed Team Event) in July, Gregoria defeated Jin Wei 18-21, 26-24, 21-15.
“We both improved and it was a tough one,” admitted Jin Wei.
“Moving on to the next round means we have to be extra vigilant, Thailand are strong.”
After Jin Wei, men’s doubles shuttlers Chen tang Jie and Man Wei Chong secured Malaysia’s win against Indonesia, beating opponents Muhammad Fachrikar and Bagas Maulana 21-19, 21-17.
The other semifinal sees China facing Japan.
