HEAVY PRICE: Thigh injury, exhaustion floor Malaysian in Super Series Finals

LEE Chong Wei, who was shocked by China's Du Pengyu in his opening match, has withdrawn from the Super Series Finals citing a thigh injury and exhaustion in Shenzhen yesterday.

Chong Wei, who said he had suffered the injury while training for the tournament, was a pale shadow of himself as Pengyu secured a 12-21, 21-16, 22-20 win in 65 minutes in their opening Group A match.

Badminton World Federation (BWF) officials confirmed that Malaysia had sent an official letter yesterday.

Chong Wei's withdrawal means Malaysia's chances of winning a title in the Super Series are as good as over as other qualifiers also lost their opening matches.

Kuala Lumpur: Three national badminton shuttlers failed in their bid to clinch the final berth of the Korea Open after losing to their respective opponents in the semi-final stage at Hwasun Indoor Stadium in Seoul Saturday.

National men's doubles, Goh Wei Shem and Ong Jian Guo, lost to fifth seed, Lee Yong Dae and Ko Sung Hyun of South Korea, 11-21 and 16-21 in just 31 minutes.

National men's singles Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif, who also the tournament's top seed, gave a strong fight against another host player, Lee Dong Keun, before going down 17-21, 21-18 and 19-21 in the match that lasted almost 90 minutes.

The loss was a repeat 'performance' for Mohamad Arif as he had also lost to South Korea's Shon Wan Ho at the same tournament last year.

Sonia Cheah followed suit after losing 13-21, 21-15 and 14-21 in the women's singles category against second seed, Aprilla Yuswandari of Indonesia, in hour-long matches.