PENG SOON-LIU YING’S WORLD TOUR FINALS ADVENTURE ENDS
Slow start in crucial match costs Peng Soon-Liu Ying dearly
PETALING JAYA: National mixed doubles shuttlers Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying bid farewell to 2018 on a dismal note when they failed to reach the semi-finals at the World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China.
Hopes were high on the Malaysian No. 1 pair to hit a rich vein of form in the lucrative US$1.5mil (RM6.24mil) season-finale tournament yesterday but their slow start in their last Group B match against Japanese pair Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino proved costly as they were defeated 9-21, 18-21.
After losing the first game and trailing 11-2 in the second, they fought back bravely to make it a onepoint difference at 18-19 but it all ended in vain as the Japanese finished off the match.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying, Watanabe-Higashino and Indonesians Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja were tied with one win each but the Malaysians missed out on a semi-final ticket on point difference.
World No. 2 pair Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping of China topped the group undefeated with three wins from three matches to make the semi-finals and Watanabe-Higashino joined them as Group B runners-up.
Hafiz-Gloria finished bottom of the group. “The shuttle today was very slow and we couldn’t play at the speed we wanted. The opponents also used the right tactics against us,” said Peng Soon, who will now shift his attention to the new season next year.
In Group A, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie ended their first World Tour Finals campaign without a single win.
The pair, who had already failed to make it to the semi-finals, were looking for a consolation victory against England pair Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith but fell to their third defeat 20-22, 22-20, 14-21.
Meanwhile World No. 1 Marcus Fernaldi GideonKevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo’s run ended unexpectedly when the Indonesians pulled out from the Finals yesterday due to an injury to Marcus.
In a statement on the Badminton World Federation (BWF), it was announced that Marcus complained of a neck injury and had to withdraw before the final Group A match against Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong of China.
China’s Chen Yufei and Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying also pulled out from the women’s singles competition due to injuries.
RESULTS
MEN’S SINGLES
Group A: Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Chou Tien-chien (Tpe) 21-17, 21-19; Son Wanho (Kor) bt Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Ina) 21-11, 21-10.
Group B: Sameer Verma (Ind) bt Kantaphon Wangcharoen (Tha) 21-9, 2118; Kento Momota (Jpn) bt Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 21-14, 21-8.
MEN’S DOUBLES
Group A: Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) bt Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina) 21-18, 24-22; Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong (Chn) bt Marcus-Kevin (Ina) (w.o); Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) bt Kim AstrupAnders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) 18-21, 21-15, 21-17.
Group B: Liao Min-chun-Su Ching-heng (Tpe) bt Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe (Jpn) 11-21, 21-17, 21-17; Chen Hung-ling-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) bt Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) 13-21, 21-18, 21-14.
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Group A: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Zhang Beiwen (Usa) 21-10, 21-10; P. V. Sindhu (Ind) bt Zhang Beiwen (Usa) 21-9, 21-15; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe) 21-17, 11-12 (rtd).
Group B: Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 14-21, 21-11, 21-14; Okuhara bt Chen Yufei (Chn) 5-4, (rtd); Ratchanok (Tha) bt Michelle Li (Can) 21-13, 21-12.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
Group A: Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi bt Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) 19-21, 21-19, 21-14; Du Yue-Li Yinhui (Chn) bt Greysia Polii (Ina) 21-18, 21-7;
Group B: Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 21-16, 21-18; Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (Jpn) bt Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) 21-5, 21-12.
MIXED DOUBLES
Group A: Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt Dechapool PuavaranukrohSapsiree Taerattanachai 21-19, 21-8; Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith (Eng) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai (Mas) 22-20, 20-22, 21-14
Group B: Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) 21-12, 21-14; Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) bt Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) 21-14, 21-12; Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) bt Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) 21-9, 21-18; Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) 21-16, 21-13.