Sabah’s Chong Roura defeated Johor’s Chiam Bao Ni 13-21, 21-15, 22-20 in a thrilling 35-minute match in her opening match in the 2nd-leg of the 100PLUS National Junior Circuit and earn a second-round match against Selangor’s K. Letshaana – winner of the first-leg in Penang in March.
The cream of national junior badminton future stars have assembled in the southern city of Johor Bahru for the 2nd-leg Division One matches which began on Tuesday.
Letshanaa had the first-round bye together with second seed Arena Satu Samin of Sabah and will be the ones to watch at the Johor Badminton Association Hall in Larkin.
While Letshanaa plays Roura, Arena will play Selangor’s Ho Lee Ee for a place in the quarter-finals. Lee Ee handed another Johor player Davincy Saha Dylyvya a 21-6, 21-13 defeat.
Another Johor player to bite the dust in the first round was Zuraini Nzri who fell 14-21, 12-21 to Selangor’s Lim Qi Ling in 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in the Boy’ Under-16 singles Selangor top seed Chua Kim Sheng handed Johor’s Ng Tze Chian a 21-19, 21-12 defeat and will face Kuala Lumpur’s, Ong Sheng Kai in the second round. Sheng-Kai was an easy 21-10, 21-12 winner over Ong Jian Ji of Penang.
There was some cheer for the home fans when Tiew Hen Zhuan (seeded 5/8) crushed Lee Qi Hong (Kul) 21-16, 21-10. He faces Sabah’s Haizal Hazrul Hashim next.
In the Boys’ Under-14 top seed Andrew Aguwell of Sabah eased into the second round after a 21-13, 21-15 win over Johor’s Muhammad Norhakim Sagidon.
Second-seed Azuan Amirul Imran, who finished runners-up to Andrew in the first-leg, also kept Johor’s hopes alive with a smashing 21-9, 21-13 win over Liew Joon Seng of Kuala Lumpur.