End of the road for Kian Meng-Pei Jing
TAN Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing’s fairytale run at the Malaysia Open finally came to an end when they crashed out in the semi-finals yesterday.
The World No 38 ran out of ideas as they went down 21-17, 2113 to second-ranked Wang YilyuHuang Dongping of China.
The China pair will play compatriots Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong for the crown today.
For Kian Meng-Pei Jing, the Malaysia Open was a much-needed boost to their partnership following a poor season in 2018.
“I do not think we ran out of energy. We were all fired up for the semi-finals actually,” said Kian Meng.
“Despite losing, we now know what’s it like to play at the highest level. We have so much to catch up,” she added.
Pei Jing said: “We would love to continue playing like this, but we have to be realistic.
“We will definitely have our ups and downs, but having said that we will try our best to play like we did this week,” she said.
The Malaysians will play in the Singapore Open next.
They will open their campaign against World No 3 Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan. RESULTS — (S-FINALS): Men’s singles: Lin Dan (Chn) bt Shi Yuqi (Chn) 21-19, 16-21, 2112; Chen Long (Chn) bt Jonatan Christie (Ina) 12-21, 21-10, 21-15.
Doubles: Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) bt Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) 13-21, 21-19, 21-15; Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina) 21-13, 22-20.
Women’s singles: Tai Tzu Ying (Tai) bt Chen Yufei (Chn) 21-14, 2119; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Nozomo Okuhara (Jpn) 21-15, 22-20.
Doubles: Du Yue-Li Yinhui (Chn) bt Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) 21-12, 21-14’ Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) bt Chang Ye Na-Jung Kyung Eun (Kor) 21-14, 21-18.
Mixed doubles: Wang YilyuHuang Dongping (Chn) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 21-17, 2113; Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 21-14, 21-9.