World Junior champion Goh Jin Wei came to Malaysia’s rescue yesterday, winning the decisive match against Hong Kong in the Happening Hyderabad Badminton Asia Team Championships.
The Group WA tie saw the two teams locked 2-2 going into the fifth match. Cheung Ngan Yi gave Hong Kong the lead in the first singles, but Amelia Alicia Anscelly/Soong Fie Cho restored parity in doubles, beating Fan Ka Yan/Yuen Sin Ying. Veteran Yip Pui Yin was dominant over Lim Yin Fun in a 21-14 21-10 rout, helping Hong Kong gain a 2-1 lead.
Malaysia’s second doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan/ Lee Meng Yean earned a hard-fought 21-16 15-21 21-16 win over Ng Tsz Yau/Yeung Nga Ting, before Goh Jin Wei proved her mettle under pressure beating Ng Wing Yung 21-6 21-13.
In other women’s team matches, Korea beat Maldives 5-0, Chinese Taipei eased past Sri Lanka 4-1 and Japan blanked Singapore 5-0.
In the men’s section, Malaysia and Indonesia dropped a match each against opponents Sri Lanka and Thailand respectively, but Japan and Chinese Taipei whitewashed Nepal and Maldives 5-0.
The lone point for Sri Lanka against Malaysia came through Buwenaka Goonathileka, who raised hopes for his team by beating Soo Teck Zhi 21-14 21-17 in the third match after Sri Lanka were down 0-2.
A strong Indonesian team brooked no challenge from Thailand, with only Ihsan Maulana Mustofa dropping his match, to Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in the third match of their Group MC encounter.
Click here for detailed results.
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