KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — The country’s challenge in the 2023 Malaysia Open fizzled out tonight when men’s doubles duo Ong Yew Sin – Teo Ee Yi crashed out of the quarter-finals.
The eighth-seeded pair succumbed to a 21 – 14, 16 – 21, 17 – 21 defeat to Fajar Alfian – Muhammad Rian Ardian of Indonesia at the Axiata Arena here in a hard-fought 75-minute encounter.
Yew Sin – Ee Yi, who are also world number seven, controlled the first set from the start and won 21 – 14, however, the Indonesians, who finished runners-up to Takuro Hoki – Yugo Kobayashi last year, bounced back to prove their mettle as the world’s top pair to secure victory.
It was the Indonesians’ seventh win against the 2021 World Championships bronze medallists in the 10 matches between them.
Fajar-Muhammad Rian will be facing Kang Min Hyuk – Seo Seung Jae of South Korea in the semi-finals, tomorrow. The Koreans ousted another Indonesian pair Mohammad Ahsan – Hendra Setiawan 21 – 13, 19 – 21, 21 – 11.
Ee Yi, 29, said despite the defeat, they were satisfied with their game tonight and hoped to be more consistent in upcoming tournaments.
“Our first set was more of defensive play, but as soon as we entered the second set, we still used the same gameplay, where Fajar – Muhammad Rian changed theirs, maybe that is why they were able to win.
“However, we hope the fans do not blame us for losing just because we were the last Malaysian pair in this tournament. We also did not want to be the last remaining competitors in our country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yew Sin said, they will get back to the drawing board with their coach Rosman Razak to come back stronger in upcoming tournaments.
Earlier, the country’s other representatives in the quarter-finals, Chen Tang Jie – Toh Ee Wei went down to former world champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh – Sapsiree Taerattanachai 19 – 21, 9 – 21 in the mixed doubles category.
Men’s singles ace Lee Zii Jia and Pearly Tan – M. Thinaah (women’s doubles) were ousted in the first round, while Ng Tze Yong (men’s singles) and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles) crashed out in the second round.
Malaysia last tasted victory in 2018, when Datuk Lee Chong Wei bagged his 12th men’s singles title of the tournament.
— Bernama
