KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s interest in the mixed doubles competition of the Asian Junior Championships ended with a 1-3 semi-final defeat by South Korea at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara here yesterday.
The mixed doubles pair of Mak Hee Chun-Vivian Hoo beat their more experienced opponents, Kim Ki-jung-Hye Won-eon, 21-18, 19-21, 21-16 to give defending champions Malaysia a great start in the opening match.
But Kuan Kam Chung was unable to carry on the momentum against German Junior Open champion Park Sung-min in the boy’s singles match. He put up stiff resistance but the Korean managed to break down the Malaysian’s game to win 18-21, 21-18, 14-21 in 67 minutes.
Winners: Vivian (left) and Mak Hee Chun scored the only point for Malaysia.In the girls’ singles match, Tiffany Chase Currier was outclassed by World Juniors’ runner-up Bae Joo-youn, going down 13-21, 17-21 in just 32 minutes.
It was left to Hee Chun-Teo Kok Siang to save the tie for Malaysia in their match against Ki-jung-Choi Woo-young but they only managed to keep pace in the early stages and were beaten 21-19, 14-21, 10-21 in 42 minutes.
Coach Jeremy Gan said: “The better players, Hee Chun and Vivian, had to play two tough matches each in the quarter-finals against Taiwan yesterday (Malaysia won 3-2).
“They had to be here by 8 this morning to get ready for the semi-finals. It is easy for a junior to lose his concentration if he is physically tired.”
South Korea will be up against China in their bid to regain the title they won in 2006 when the mixed team competition introduced in the Asian Juniors.
China had it easy in their semi-finals tie against Hong Kong, taking less than two hours to secure a 3-0 victory.
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