KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — Three Malaysian men’s doubles pair turned on the style in today’s quarter-finals to storm into the last four of the Malaysia Masters at the Axiata Arena, KL Sports City here.
With Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the semi-finals, Malaysia are assured of a least one pair in Sunday’s final.
In the quarter-finals, world No. 27 Yew Sin-Ee Yi got the ball rolling with a stunning 21-19, 21-16 win over world No. 3 Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda of Japan.
The Malaysians had disposed off eighth seeds Liao Min Chun-Su Ching Heng of Taiwan in the first round on Wednesday.
“Our strategy today worked. This is a good achievement for us as this is the first time we have made it to the semi-finals of a super series tournament,” said Ee Yi.
“This is a crucial year for us. As the nation’s third-ranked pair, we want to improve on our world ranking. We hope to win the Malaysia Masters.”
While Aaron-Wooi Yik dispatched fourth seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 21-17, 21-19, professionals Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong continued to show their true colours by ousting third seeds Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe of Japan 22-20, 21-15.
“Winning (last week’s) Thailand Masters and finding consistency to make the semi-finals here may just be the starting point for us to become competitive again. We were nervous early in today’s game but the fans raised our spirits.
“We will strive to regain our old form (like when winning the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics), said Wee Kiong.
In tomorrow’s semi-finals, Yew Sin-Ee Yi will take on Aaron-Wooi Yik while V Shem-Wee Kiong will face world No. 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia. — Bernama
