KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s challenge at the Korea Open 2023 badminton championships ended at the quarter-final stage after the country’s last two representatives were shown the exit today.
Men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong fought hard for 45-minutes at the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu but it wasn’t enough to beat 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.
Tze Yong, ranked 23rd in the world, went down 20-22, 19-21 to the world number eight Kean Yew.
In their only previous encounter at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games quarter-finals last year, Tze Yong came back from a set down to beat Kean Yew 15-21, 21-14, 21-11 to return home with the silver medal.
In the semi-finals tomorrow, the Singaporean will face top seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan, who ousted Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu 21-17, 21-18.
In the men’s doubles quarter-finals, Nur Izzuddin Rumsani-Goh Sze Fei were tamed by world number one Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia.
The 2019 and 2022 World Championships bronze medallists Fajar-Muhammad Rian won 21-9, 23-21 to advance to the last four. – BERNAMA
