KUALA LUMPUR: The clean sweep did not happen as the national shuttlers won two titles of the five finals at the Celcom Axiata Malaysia International Challenge on Sunday.
But still it was a commendable show by the national badminton team.
In the opening all-Malaysian women's doubles final, experience made the difference as top seeds Soong Fie Cho-Tee Jing Yi eased past younger teammates Lim Chiew Sien-Tan Sueh Jeou 21-13, 21-10.
"We're happy to have won our first title this season, but I guess it was also comfortable for us as we were up against our teammates. We train together often, so we know each other's game really well," said Jing Yi, who only switched from singles to doubles last year.
The Malaysian pair, likely to be ranked national No 1 in the absence of the injured Woon Khe Wei and Lee Meng Yean, will compete in the Badminton Asia Championships, that gets underway on Tuesday.
In the women's singles final, former world junior runner-up Lee Ying Ying could not end her title drought, when she bowed out 21-10, 22-24, 21-14 to China's youngster Wang Zhiyi.
Ying Ying, who knew that a win could have secured her place in next month's Uber Cup squad, lamented: "It was really unfortunate. It wasn't like I was completely bad, but I made some errors in the third game that proved costly.”
Since clinching the Romanian International Series title in 2016, Ying Ying has reached seven finals, playing second fiddle in all of them.
In the men's singles final, Tan Jia Wei went down 21-18, 21-19 to Taiwan's Hsueh Hsuan Yi.
The men's doubles final, however, drew the loudest cheer at the Juara Stadium as Malaysia's Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, despite losing, took the fight to former world champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia, before going down 21-17, 17-21, 21-19.
The singles winners took home US$1,875 (RM7,300) while doubles winners pocketed US$1,975. The runners-up received US$950.
FINAL RESULTS
Men's singles: Hsueh Hsuan Yi (Tai) bt Tan Jia Wei 21-18, 21-19;
Doubles: Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) vs Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik 21-17, 17-21, 21-19;
Women's singles: Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Lee Ying Ying 21-10, 22-24, 21-14;
Doubles: Soong Fie Cho-Tee Jing Yi bt Lim Chiew Sien-Tan Sueh Jeou 21-13, 21-10;
Mixed doubles: Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei bt Andika Ramadiansyah-Mychelle Crhystine Bandaso (Ina) 12-21, 23-21, 21-13