Pang Ron hopes to see his final wish come true

HOO Pang Ron’s (pic) dream is to witness an all-malaysian final in the mixed doubles and the wish is nearing reality. Driven by the goal, second seeds Pang Ron-cheah Yee See and fourth-seeded Chen Tang Jie-peck Yen Wei stormed into the semi-finals with comprehensive wins yesterday. Pang Ron-yee See defeated Thailand’s Chaloempon Charoenkitamorn-laksika Kanlaha 21-8, 21-16 while Tang Jie-yen Wei overcame Singapore’s Terry Hee-jessica Tan 21-19, 21-19 in the quarter-finals.

However, the Malaysians will be severely tested in the semi-finals by the Indonesian combinations today.

Pang Ron-yee See will play Adnan Maulana-mychelle Bandaso while Tang Jie-yen Wei take on favourites Rinov Rivaldy-pitha Mentari.

“My wish is to see an all-malaysian final and we have come close now. It’s not going to be easy against the Indonesians but we will go all out to make it happen,” said Pang Ron, whose sister Vivian Hoo is an established doubles player.

“Our record against Adnanmychelle stands at 1-1 but this is a new tournament. We need to step up and hopefully both pairs can go through to the final.”

The 1999 Brunei SEA Games was the last time an all-malaysian mixed doubles final took place where Chew Choon Eng-chor Hooi Yee secured gold by beating Rosman Razaknorashikin Amin 12-15, 15-6, 15-7.

On a personal note, Pang Ron also hopes to join his sister as a gold medal winner. Vivian partnered Woon Khe Wei to win the doubles title in the 2013 Games in Myanmar.

Yee See also reached the women’s doubles semi-finals with Cheng Su Hui after beating Aira Mae Albothea Marie Pomar of the Philippines 21-13, 21-11 in the last eight.

Yee See-su Hui will meet Thai pair Benyapa Aimsaard-nunthaka Aimsaard in the last four today.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s interest in the men’s and women’s singles ended yesterday.

In men’s singles, Lee Shun Yang lost 21-11, 21-11 to Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand while Siti Nurshuhaini Azman was beaten 21-17, 21-8 by another Thai shuttler Pornpawee Chochuwong.