Arena Sabah's only hope of winning title
KOTA KINABALU: Arena Satu Samin is through to the finals of the Celcom Axiata National Under-21 (2nd Leg) Badminton Championships here, today.
The Kota Belud-born youngster, who has several tournament wins from earlier this year, is now going for another title to tuck under her belt.
She overcame stiff resistance from second seed Kong Yi Jin to lift local hopes for glory in the penultimate day of the five-day championships at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex, yesterday.
Arena had to work hard to take the opening set 21-19, before her opponent from Penang fought back to stem the tide 10-21. But experience from her stints in several national-level championships allowed Arena to prevail, clinching victory 21-16 in the deciding set.
A final match with top seed Eoon Qi Xuan of BAM will put Arena to the test once again where local support will prove crucial to tip the scales in her favour.
Eoon on the other hand notched a straight sets victory (21-17, 21-17) over Wong Ling Ching of Sarawak in the other semi-final match.
Arena and Eoon will battle in centre court after the men's singles finals between top two seeds Ng Tze Zhe of BAM and Yeoh Seng Zoe from Penang.
Yesterday, Ng came back to clinch a dramatic win against third seed Faiz Rozain after the latter posted a 21-16 win in the early set.
But Ng lived up to his billing as favourite, stunning his Terengganu opponent 21-13 in the second set, before going on to claim the match with a 21-11 win in the decider.
Yeoh on the other hand edged fourth seed Datu Mohd Shah Eizlan Sardik in the other semifinal match. The Sabahan started well taking the first set 21-13, but eventually lost the remaining two sets 21-17, 21-16.
Meanwhile, top seed pair Helmie Zulhaidee Zulman and Izzat Farhan Azhar came from behind to post a 2-1 win over BAM duo Lwi Sheng Hao and Choong Hon Jian, while second seeds Muhamad Amar and Muhamad Amir Mohd Sani (brothers from Terengganu) lost 21-16, 21-17 to BAM's Chia Wei Jie and Chua Yue Chern.
In the women's doubles, top seeds Nurul FArisha Abdul Malik and Noor Hazwani Hazair lost 18-21, 21-19, 21-15 to third seeds Gan Jing Err and Eoon Qi Xuan of BAM.
Gan and Eoon will vie for the title with BAM teammates Eng Sin Jou and Yap Ling after the latter beat Goh Yi Xuan and Ng Wan Win, 21-16, 21-12 in the other semi-final match.