National discards Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi marched into the men’s doubles in the Thailand Masters with a stunning 21-15, 21-17 win over Japan’s No 7 seeds Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi in 38 minutes at the Huamark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok on Friday.
They face Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan of Chinese Taipei in the last four and the win over the Japanese, winners of the silver medal at the World Championships in Basel, Switzerland last August would not have come at a better time.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi has been recalled by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) for next month’s Badminton Asia Team Championships in Manila which will also serve as a qualifier for the Thomas Cup.
Also through to the semi-finals is another professional pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong. The number four seeds needed 62 minutes to subdue English pair Marcus Ellis-Chris Langridge 21-13, 16-21, 21-15. The Rio Olympics silver medallists will face Japan’s Akira Koga-Taichi Sato.
Both the national pairs in the mixed doubles – No 3 seeds Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and No 8 seeds Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing came through straight game wins to book their semi-final berths.
Soon Huat-Shevon beat Hong Kong’s Yeung Ming Nok-Ng Tsz Yau 23-21, 21-17 in 42 minutes and will face sixth seeds Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith of England. The English pair won 14-21, 21-10, 21-7 against Koreans Choi Solgyu-Shin Seung Chan.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing made the second successive semi-finals beat Denmark’s Niclas Nohr-Sara Thygesen 21-16, 21-9 in 35 minutes. The Malaysians, who made the last four in last week’s Indonesia Masters, face Indonesian fourth seeds Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the semis. RIZAL ABDULLAHÂ
