KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — Women’s doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean emerged as the saviour for Malaysia by clinching the winning point in their crucial tie against India at the Sudirman Cup badminton championship 2019 at the Guangxi Sports Centre in Nanning, China today.
Mei Kuan-Meng Yean, who were not fielded in the opening match against China, put Malaysia in a strong position to qualify for the quarter-finals by beating Ashwini Ponnappa-Reddy N. Sikki 21-11, 21-19 to give Malaysia a 3-2 win in the Group 1D match.
The Malaysian pair, ranked 13th in the world, however, had to slog for 42 minutes before emerging victorious.
Women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak, when contacted by Bernama, said he was pleased with their performance as May Kuan-Meng Yean handled the pressure well despite playing in such a tense situation.
“The women’s doubles pair played well in the first set according to the tactical plan, but somewhat slacked in the second set and played too defensively. But I’m happy our pair recovered and won.
“I was quite worried because this is the first team event that required Mei Kuan-Meng Yean to earn a crucial point. The stress control factor is very important and it turned out they managed it well.
“Of course, this is not just their victory; it’s the whole team’s victory,” he said.
Malaysia had started on the wrong footing when Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai fell to Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa 21-16, 17-21, 22-24 in the opening mixed doubles match.
However, men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia shouldered his responsibility well by defeating Sameer Verma 21-13, 21-15 before India got ahead again when their women’s singles player Pusarla V. Sindhu beat Goh Jin Wei 21-12, 21-8.
Malaysia’s gamble in fielding a scratch men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia and Teo Ee Yi, proved fruitful when they levelled the score at 2-2 by beating Attri Manu-Reddy B.Sumeeth 22-20, 21-19.
Last Sunday Malaysia lost 0-5 to China, and a defeat to India today would have knocked them out of the tournament. — Bernama
