WORLD JUNIORS 2014 – 6th place for Malaysia

Korea defeated Malaysia 3-0 in the playoff for 5^th place at the 2014  Suhandinata Cup in Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium. Korea, the 2013 champions, denied the host country from maintaining their 5^th position of last year.

Story and photos by Chee Ying Fan, Badzine Correspondent live in Alor Setar

On Friday morning at the Suhandinata Cup, the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championship, the consolation ties took place while China and Indonesia rested up for their evening showdown in the final.

Conspicuously not in action were Japan and Thailand, each of whom lost their semi-final by a narrow 3-2 margin.  Thailand, in particular, was without their doubles star Narissapat Lam and failed to produce a first-time Suhandinata finalist for the third straight year, after Japan and Indonesia made their inaugural appearances in the 2012 and 2013 editions, respectively.

With 5^th place up for grabs, mixed doubles players Kim Jae Hwan and Kong  Hee Yong – each of them German Junior winners and Asian Junior runners-up in boys’ and mixed doubles respectively – won the opening point for Korea when they beat Sim Guo Zheng/Eng Pui Yee in straight games, 21-7,21-13 in 19 minutes. Malaysia fought back by stretching the Koreans in rubber games in the next two matches.

In the boys’ singles match, Korea’s Lee Jun Su (pictured above) won the first game, 21-11 against Tan Jia Wei. Jia Wei played a more effective game in the 2^nd match to force a deciding game. It was a close deciding game until Jun Su scored consecutive 4 points at 15 all to increase the gap and close it off, 21-16, giving Korea the 2^nd point.

Malaysia’s boys’ doubles pair, Chua Khek Wei / Ng Di Hua (pictured) sparked some hope to the local fans when they won the first game, 21-17 against Park Kyung Hoon and Choi Jong Woo. However, the Koreans displayed an attacking performance to win the 2^nd and 3^rd game, robbing the home fans of the chance to watch the girls’ singles match between young star, Goh Jin Wei and Kim Ga Eun.

Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei beat Hong Kong, 3-0 for the 7^th placing with all 3 matches stretched into deciding games. Lee Chak Wai was near to victory, leading 19-14 but allowed Liou Wei Chi to score 7 consecutive points to win the deciding game, thus sealing the 7^th place for Chinese Taipei.

Will China, the 8-time champion or Indonesia, the 2013 runner-up, win the Suhandinata Cup this year?  That question will be answered this evening.

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