Kisona has to overcome Taiwanese to retain Malaysian International Series title
PETALING JAYA: National women’s singles shuttler S. Kisona will be hoping to complete a redemption after her injury layoff by successfully defending her Malaysian International Series title in Penang.
The 20-year-old stormed into the final with a comfortable 21-19, 21-17 win over Indonesia’s Aurum Oktavia Winata at the Penang BA Badminton Hall in Bukit Dumbar yesterday.
Kisona, who was sidelined for three months due to an ankle injury sustained after the Uber Cup Finals in Bangkok in May, had bagged two gold medals for Negri Sembilan on her return to competitive action at the Malaysian Games in September.
But surely nothing beats retaining an international title when she takes on Taiwan’s Liang Ting-yu today.
“I’ll be very happy if I can win tomorrow (today) because I have not set any target for this week,” said the world No. 104 Kisona.
“I didn’t play well at the Macau Open (lost in the first round) last week, so I didn’t want to put the expectation too high despite being the defending champion.
“Moreover, this is only my second (international) tournament in three months. But, now that I’m in the final, I definitely will go all out to make up for time lost.
“It would be 50-50 against this Taiwanese opponent, whom I am meeting for the first time. I don’t know anything about her.”
The other local shuttlers who made the final were women’s doubles pair Payee Lim Peiy Yee-M. Thinaah, who defeated compatriots Eng Sin Jou-Yap Ling 21-12, 16-21, 21-19 in the last four.
Thinaah and Payee will be hoping to strike it right in their first-time partnership when they take on Cheng Yu-chieh-Chung Kan-yu of Taiwan.
In the men’s doubles, former men’s doubles world champions Ko Sung-hyun-Shin Baek-cheol of South Korea continued their remarkable return from retirement by reaching their fourth final on the trot.
They easily dispatched former Malaysian internationals Low Juan Shen-Chooi Kah Ming 21-15, 21-19 to set up a title clash against Taiwan’s Lin Shang-kai-Tseng Min-hao.
Sung-hyun-Baek-cheol had won the Vietnam Open and were runners-up at the Indonesian Masters and Macau Open.