Jakarta: Malaysia is set to meet defending champion China in the final of the 2017 World Junior Championships mixed team final in Yogjakarta, Indonesia on Saturday, after both countries tasted victory in their respective semi-final clashes on Friday.
In the semi-final tie between Malaysia and Korea, the 2015 girls’ World Junior champion Goh Jin Wei was the match-winner for Malaysia, beating An Se-young of Korea 21-16, 21-19 in 36 minutes to clinch the winning point her country.
Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Ng Eng Cheong/Tan Sueh Jeou made a strong start and capitalized on Jeong Min-Kim Seong Jae’s mistakes to prevail 21-9, 21-12 in just 21 minutes.
Leong Jun Hao who won the 2017 Asian junior champion in July, overcame Ki Dong Ju 21-6, 21-19 in the boys’ singles to give Malaysia a 2-0 lead.
Malaysia’s team manager Goh Yen Yen told reporters that China is a tough opponent, but they will deploy their best shuttlers in the final.
“We will play our best players for both singles and doubles matches in the final,” said Goh.
In the other World Junior mixed team semifinal, China produced a hard-fought win against Japan to earn the tie with 3-1.
“We had some difficulties in the tie against Japan today. We’ve prepared for the tournament since 3 months ago,” said the China team manager Wang Wei.
“In the final on Saturday, Malaysia has a good player in girls’ singles, but we think we will not have any problems with Malaysia in the doubles. We will have a discussion on Friday night to figure out the winning strategy in the final,” added Wang.
Malaysia emerged victorious in 2011 while lost the mixed team final to China in 2009 and 2016.
