ants
02-15-2006, 06:42 PM
TheStar FEb 16
JAIPUR: The Malaysian women’s badminton team are virtually out of contention for a place in the Uber Cup Finals after losing 2-3 to Taiwan in a crucial opening Group A tie of the Asian Zone qualifying tournament at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here yesterday.
Malaysia’s chances to unseat the tough Taiwanese team were dented when top singles player Wong Mew Choo failed in her bid to beat Cheng Chao-shieh. The semi-finalist in the World Championships last year broke Mew Choo’s resistance in the rubber game, winning the match 22-20, 15-21, 21-11.
Malaysia’s hopes faded further when the scratch combination of Wong Pei Tty-Ooi Sock Ai lost to the top ranked Taiwanese pair of Chien Yu-chin-Cheng Wen-hsing 10-21, 10-21.
National champion Julia Wong failed to stop Taiwan from clinching victory, losing the second singles match against Huang Chia-hsin 18-21, 18-21.
The second scratch pair of Chin Eei Hui-Fong Chew Yen and third singles player Norsyahliza Baharom salvaged two points for Malaysia.
Eei Hui-Chew Yen defeated Chou Chia-chi-Ku Pei-ting 21-18, 21-18 while Norsyahliza came back from a game down to beat Chieng Yu-chin 16-21, 21-1, 21-18.
The defeat puts Malaysia in a difficult position to get among the top two in the group, which has South Korea, Indonesia and Iran, to advance to the Finals in Japan.
Malaysia play Indonesia tonight and will have to win the tie to keep their slim hopes of advancing alive. In the morning, they will play against minnows Iran. They complete their group ties against South Korea tomorrow.
Chief coach Yap Kim Hock took a gamble by splitting the top doubles partnership of Eei Hui-Pei Tty in the hope that it would boost Malaysia’s chances to take a point in the doubles matches.
“Taiwan have two good doubles pairs and we only have a 50-50 chance in both matches,” he said.
“I felt that it would be better to split the pairings because it would give us a better chance in our strategy to win one of the doubles matches.”
But Mew Choo’s failure to win the opening singles match proved costly.
“We were banking on two points from the singles. However, Mew Choo played below expectations while Julia looked nervous playing under the new scoring format (21-point best-of-three games rally scoring),” said Kim Hock.
Kim Hock admitted that it would be very difficult for Malaysia to make the grade for the Finals.
“We have to beat Indonesia tomorrow. Otherwise, it’s all over for our women’s team,” he said.
The Indonesians have a slight edge over the Malaysians, especially in the doubles.
“They have two good pairs (Jo Novita-Greysia Polli and Lilyana Nasir-Lita Nurlita). We have to win one point from the doubles,” said Kim Hock.
Indonesia began their campaign by beating Iran 5-0.
In the men’s Thomas Cup qualifiers, Malaysia opened their campaign in Group A with a 5-0 win over Pakistan.
RESULTS
THOMAS CUP
Group A: Iran bt Nepal 4-1; Malaysia bt Pakistan 5-0 (Lee Chong Wei bt Ali Wajid 21-15, 21-9; Mohd Hafiz Hashim bt Omar Zeeshan 21-7, 21-4; Wong Choong Hann bt Qamar Ahsan 21-13, 21-11; Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat bt Ishaq Tahir-Ahmed Waqas 21-9, 21-16; Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui bt Ali Wajid-Omar Zeeshan 21-8, 21-5).
Group B: Indonesia bt Vietnam 5-0.
Group D: S. Korea bt Sri Lanka 5-0.
UBER CUP
Group A: Malaysia lost to Taiwan 2-3 (Wong Mew Choo lost to Cheng Chao-shieh 20-22, 21-15, 11-21; Wong Pei Tty-Ooi Sock Ai lost to Chien Yu-chin-Cheng Wen-hsing 10-21, 10-21; Julia Wong lost to Huang Chia-hsin 18-21, 18-21; Chin Eei Hui-Fong Chew Yen bt Chou Chia-chi-Ku Pei-ting 21-18, 21-18; Norsyahliza Baharom bt Chieng Yu-chin 16-21, 21-10, 21-18); Indonesia bt Iran 5-0.
Group B: Singapore bt Pakistan 5-0; India bt Thailand 3-2.
JAIPUR: The Malaysian women’s badminton team are virtually out of contention for a place in the Uber Cup Finals after losing 2-3 to Taiwan in a crucial opening Group A tie of the Asian Zone qualifying tournament at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here yesterday.
Malaysia’s chances to unseat the tough Taiwanese team were dented when top singles player Wong Mew Choo failed in her bid to beat Cheng Chao-shieh. The semi-finalist in the World Championships last year broke Mew Choo’s resistance in the rubber game, winning the match 22-20, 15-21, 21-11.
Malaysia’s hopes faded further when the scratch combination of Wong Pei Tty-Ooi Sock Ai lost to the top ranked Taiwanese pair of Chien Yu-chin-Cheng Wen-hsing 10-21, 10-21.
National champion Julia Wong failed to stop Taiwan from clinching victory, losing the second singles match against Huang Chia-hsin 18-21, 18-21.
The second scratch pair of Chin Eei Hui-Fong Chew Yen and third singles player Norsyahliza Baharom salvaged two points for Malaysia.
Eei Hui-Chew Yen defeated Chou Chia-chi-Ku Pei-ting 21-18, 21-18 while Norsyahliza came back from a game down to beat Chieng Yu-chin 16-21, 21-1, 21-18.
The defeat puts Malaysia in a difficult position to get among the top two in the group, which has South Korea, Indonesia and Iran, to advance to the Finals in Japan.
Malaysia play Indonesia tonight and will have to win the tie to keep their slim hopes of advancing alive. In the morning, they will play against minnows Iran. They complete their group ties against South Korea tomorrow.
Chief coach Yap Kim Hock took a gamble by splitting the top doubles partnership of Eei Hui-Pei Tty in the hope that it would boost Malaysia’s chances to take a point in the doubles matches.
“Taiwan have two good doubles pairs and we only have a 50-50 chance in both matches,” he said.
“I felt that it would be better to split the pairings because it would give us a better chance in our strategy to win one of the doubles matches.”
But Mew Choo’s failure to win the opening singles match proved costly.
“We were banking on two points from the singles. However, Mew Choo played below expectations while Julia looked nervous playing under the new scoring format (21-point best-of-three games rally scoring),” said Kim Hock.
Kim Hock admitted that it would be very difficult for Malaysia to make the grade for the Finals.
“We have to beat Indonesia tomorrow. Otherwise, it’s all over for our women’s team,” he said.
The Indonesians have a slight edge over the Malaysians, especially in the doubles.
“They have two good pairs (Jo Novita-Greysia Polli and Lilyana Nasir-Lita Nurlita). We have to win one point from the doubles,” said Kim Hock.
Indonesia began their campaign by beating Iran 5-0.
In the men’s Thomas Cup qualifiers, Malaysia opened their campaign in Group A with a 5-0 win over Pakistan.
RESULTS
THOMAS CUP
Group A: Iran bt Nepal 4-1; Malaysia bt Pakistan 5-0 (Lee Chong Wei bt Ali Wajid 21-15, 21-9; Mohd Hafiz Hashim bt Omar Zeeshan 21-7, 21-4; Wong Choong Hann bt Qamar Ahsan 21-13, 21-11; Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat bt Ishaq Tahir-Ahmed Waqas 21-9, 21-16; Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui bt Ali Wajid-Omar Zeeshan 21-8, 21-5).
Group B: Indonesia bt Vietnam 5-0.
Group D: S. Korea bt Sri Lanka 5-0.
UBER CUP
Group A: Malaysia lost to Taiwan 2-3 (Wong Mew Choo lost to Cheng Chao-shieh 20-22, 21-15, 11-21; Wong Pei Tty-Ooi Sock Ai lost to Chien Yu-chin-Cheng Wen-hsing 10-21, 10-21; Julia Wong lost to Huang Chia-hsin 18-21, 18-21; Chin Eei Hui-Fong Chew Yen bt Chou Chia-chi-Ku Pei-ting 21-18, 21-18; Norsyahliza Baharom bt Chieng Yu-chin 16-21, 21-10, 21-18); Indonesia bt Iran 5-0.
Group B: Singapore bt Pakistan 5-0; India bt Thailand 3-2.