Malaysian badminton took another beating when the juniors failed to win a medal in this year’s World Junior Championships in Kazan, Russia after bowing out in the quarter-finals in the men’s singles and doubles and the mixed doubles on Friday.
In the mixed doubles, sixth seeds Yap Roy King-Gan Jing Err Malaysia’s best hopes for a medal in the individual events were ousted by Thai third seeds Ratchapol Makkasasithorn-Benyapa Aimsaard 19-21, 17-21 in 33 minutes.
It was also the end of the road in the boys’ doubles China’s third seeds Dai En Yi-Feng Yan Zhe ended Junaidi Arif-Muhammad Haikal’s run in Kazan with a 21-13, 21-15 win in 36 minutes.
Shaqeem Shahyar’s impressive run in the boys’ singles ended in the quarter-finals but the unseeded Malaysian went out fighting in his 21-13, 16-21, 14-21 defeat by Indonesia’s Yonathan Ramlie after a 64-minute battle.
Another singles hope Goh Wyman conceded a walkover to China’s fourth seed Li Yun Ze.
Malaysia’s miserable outing in Kazan saw last hope of winning a bronze medal in this year’s world juniors meet when the boys’ doubles pair of Junaidi Arif-Muhammad Haikal bowed out with a 13-21, 15-21 defeat at the hands of third seeds Dai En Yi-Feng Yan Zhe of China in 36 minutes.
In the mixed team championships, Malaysia could only manage a ninth place with a 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei in the playoff. This is the first time Malaysia failed to get past the group stage in the event.
