World Junior Championships: Nervous Malaysia sneak into final

2009/10/26

K. M. Boopathy

CHOOI Kah Ming and Tee Jing Yi were the heroes as Malaysia survived some nervous moments to beat Taiwan 3-1 and reach the mixed team final of the World Junior Championships for the first time at Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium in Alor Star yesterday.

Earlier Kah Ming had partnered Ng Hui Ern in the mixed doubles to secure a 21-19, 27-25 win over Wu Yun Thing-Yan Chi Hsun in 30 minutes to give Malaysia a bright start.

Kah Ming-Hui Ern fought back from 10-16 down in the first game and saved four game points before winning the nail-biting second game 27-25.

However, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, who was suffering from food poisoning, went down 21-13, 21-14 to Hsu Jen Hao in 30 minutes to leave the tie hanging in the balance.

Kah Ming, unperturbed by the pressure, came on court again with Ow Yao Han for the boys' doubles. They defeated Chang Kai Liang-Cheng Yu Te 21-12, 21-16 to give Malaysia a crucial 2-1 lead.

Jing Yi followed up the good work of her teammates as she battled hard to subdue Cheng Chi Ya 21-17, 22-20 to put Malaysia in the final.

But the victory was not without its nervous moments as she trailed 17-20 in the second set before rallyng strongly to score five points in a row to secure victory.

Malaysia will meet favourites China, who fought for two hours to defeat Thailand 3-0, in the final today.

National junior chief coach Sun Chenghua said he was happy that Jing Yi made amends and he will monitor Iskandar's condition in the next 24 hours before considering him for the final which will be played at 7.30pm today.

"Though Iskandar was down with food poisoning, we had to take a gamble as the other players don't have a good record against Jen Hao. We were fortunate Jing Yi delivered again," said Chenghua.

"The only way we can beat China is by securing the boys' singles. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Iskandar can play tomorrow (today)," he added.

Kah Ming said he was not under any pressure even after Iskandar lost a crucial point