State girls shuttlers fall in quarters, boys suffer early exit
KUCHING: The Sarawak girls team’s challenge in the AirAsiaBAM National Junior League grand fi nals at Stadium Juara, Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur ended yesterday when they lost 13 to Selangor in the quarterfi nals.
In the first singles against Kasturi Radhakrisnan, Flora Fong Xin Jie won the first set 21-17 but the former staged a strong fight back to win the next two sets 23-21, 21-15 for Selangor’s first point.
Kashley Kho Tze Yin managed to put Sarawak level 1-1 when she beat Venosha Radhakrisnan in straight sets of 21-13 and 21-12 in the second singles.
However, Selangor proved too strong in the doubles when Dharshana Haridass-Welnis Lim Peiy Link eased to a 21-8, 21-6 victory over Olivia Hiu Liying and Gladys Tan Ru Qian while Shalini Ravikumar-Loh Zhi Wei disposed of Voon Ya Suen and Sia Zhi Xuan 21-5, 21-6.
The other members of the Sarawak team were Cindy Chu Wan Chin and Felicia Fong Xin Hui.
Prior to the last eight, Sarawak girls edged Kuala Lumpur 3-2 in the opener, followed by a 3-2 win over Kelantan but lost 1-4 to Penang in the final Group C match.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak boys’ challenge ended in the preliminary rounds after losing all their three matches in Group B.
Seeded joint 5/8 in the tournament, Sarawak lost 2-3 to Terengganu in the opener on Thursday and fell 2-3 to Kelantan before they were hammered 5-0 by Selangor on Friday.
The boys team comprised Aloysius Lim Kwok Ping, Barrie Chong Kwang Wei, Chen Zi Quan, Felix Fong Jia Liang, Jeremy Juan Zhen Liang, Goh Shun Lhiat, Joshua Voon Ern Hua, Pui Wee Young, Danny Lee Sheng Yee and Syafiq Azhar Haizan.
Head coach was Wahid Nuzul Ackssanto and assisted by Agendy Tan Hin Loke.