M'sia's Sudirman Cup hopes evaporate
Published on: Saturday, May 27, 2017
Kuala Lumpur: The national badminton squad's Sudirman Cup campaign ended in the quarter-finals after losing 1-3 to Japan in the Gold Coast, Australia, Friday.In the game, only Datuk Lee Chong Wei maintained his consistency by contributing the solitary point when he defeated Kenta Nishimoto 21-15, 21-13 in the men's singles. Earlier national men's doubles pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong went down 17-21, 21-16, 11-21 to unheralded Japanese pair Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonada while women's singles hope Sonia Cheah surrendered tamely to Nozomi Okuhara 11-21, 9-21 in just 34 minutes.
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Later women's doubles pair of Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei were crushed 7-21 and 14-21 by Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi. Japan are scheduled to meet China in the semi-finals while South Korea will face Thailand in the other semis Saturday.In the other quarter-final Friday, Olympic and world champion Chen Long led China, the defending champions, to a crushing 3-0 win over India. India have not won a medal at the Sudirman Cup, but Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa did create some problems for world No.2 duo Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong in the opening mixed doubles match before China prevailed 16-21, 21-13, 21-16.
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