Out to fill the missing piece in puzzle
Ee Wei-Pearly on track to put Malaysia in world junior record books
PETALING JAYA: Girls doubles shuttlers Toh Ee Wei-Pearly Tan Koong Le are on the brink of turning the World Junior Championships into a very special occasion for Malaysia.
On Saturday, Ee Wei-Pearly become the first Malaysian pair to reach the girls’ doubles final after upstaging second seeds Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Ribka Sugiarto of Indonesia 21-19, 21-19 in a 43-minute semi-finals in Markham, Canada.
It was sweet revenge for the Malaysians after losing to them in the Asian Junior Championships’ final in Jakarta, in July.
The duo take on top seeds Liu XuanxuanXia Yuting of China in the final and have a golden chance to make it historic.
Malaysia have previously tasted success in all other four events — boys’ singles and doubles, girls’ singles and the mixed doubles — leaving Ee Wei-Pearly to complete the puzzle.
China hold the distinction of being the only nation to have produced winners in all the five individual events at the world junior meet since its inception in 1992.
And Ee Wei-Pearly have vowed to win it and end their junior career in style.
“We’re pleased to overcome all hurdles and now, we’re just one win away from achieving our dream of becoming the world junior champions,” said Ee Wei.
“We’ve met Xuanxuan-Yuting twice this year, winning one of them (in the Dutch Junior Open final in March).
They are good attackers and mentally are very strong but we’re equal to them.”
Whatever the outcome, Ee Wei-Pearly deserve a pat on their backs. Malaysia’s previous best performers in the girls’ doubles were Goh Liu Ying-Ng Hui Lin, who won a bronze at the 2007 edition in New Zealand.
Goh Jin Wei also made it a grand day by
reaching the girls’ singles final after powering past top seed Wang Zhiyi of China 21-9, 21-13 in 38 minutes to set up a title clash against Denmark’s Line Christophersen.
The win was also sweet revenge for the 2015 world junior champion Jin Wei after losing to Zhiyi in Malaysia’s 3-1 quarter-final loss in the mixed team event last week.
Jin Wei had beaten Zhiyi en route to winning the Youth Olympic Games gold in Buenos Aires, Argentina last month but said the win on Saturday was “tougher.”
“We had to play more rounds here to get to the semi-finals.
“I just fought hard, played without pressure,” stated Jin Wei in the Badminton World Federation’s website.
“I’ve never played Line before, so I’ve to prepare by watching videos.”
Jin Wei can expect a spirited challenge from Christophersen, who is equally hungry for glory as she bids to become the first Danish girls’ singles champion, as well as the first European winner in eight years.
The last European winner was Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, who won the boys’ singles crown in Mexico in 2010.