ONE good serve was all Wan Arif Shaharuddin Junaidi-Valeree Siow needed, but the mixed doubles duo couldn’t nail it as they crashed out in the second round of the World Junior Championships in Kazan, Russia, yesterday.
The failure to finish off the first game saw the Malaysian pair losing 22-20, 21-18 to eighth seeds Rory Easton-Hope Warner of England.
National junior coach Kwan Yoke Meng did not hide his disappointment.
“The first game should have been theirs as they were up 20-17, and all they needed was a good serve to close it.
“They squandered their chance and paid the price for it.
“There wasn’t much they could do in the second game as they had already lost their confidence,” he said.
However, it was not all gloom for the national camp as sixth seeds Yap Roy King-Gan Jing Err and Haikal Nazri-Low Yeen Yuan reached the fourth round.
Roy King-Jing Err started the day by easing past Sri Kolla-Kristen Choi of the United States 21-5, 21-12 before overcoming Sweden’s Joel Hansson-Cecilia Wang 21-16, 21-17 in the third round.
They play France’s Kenji Lovang-Juliette Moinard today for a place in the quarter-finals.
Haikal-Yeen Yuan defeated New Zealand’s Jack Wang-Ella Smith (21-11, 21-9) and England’s William Jones-Asmita Chaudhari (21-15, 21-17) to advance to the fourth round.
Haikal-Yee Yuan face fourth seeds Jiang Zhen Bang-Li Yi Jing of China today.
In the boys’ singles, Shaqeem Eiman Shahyar defeated Singapore's Nigel Yap 21-11, 22-24, 21-18 to reach the fifth round, where he faces Taiwan’s Su Li Yang.