La Nucia: Malaysia’s Selvaduray Kisona who was seeded fourth at the 2021 Spanish International, saw off a spirited challenge from compatriot – unseeded Goh Jin Wei before winning her first international title since the 2019 SEA Games gold.
Kisona needed 31 minutes to beat the 2015 and 2018 World Junior champion Goh Jin Wei 21-14, 21-19 in the final on Saturday. The victory showed she had bounced back strong from her recent struggles.
The 22-year-old lost to World No. 13 Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the first round of the 2021 All England. Her coach Indra Wijaya was unhappy at that time and decided to withdraw her from the 2021 Orleans Masters in France after her lackluster performance at the All England.
“Although the Spanish International was not a major tournament, I hope they could slowly qualified for higher-tier tournaments,” said Wijaya.
This was Kisona’s second win over Goh after beating the former world junior champion in the 2018 Thailand Masters second round.
The final appearance should also give Goh a big shot in the arm which she so badly needed after her colectomy surgery in 2019.
“Jin Wei who has been struggling in the last two years due to medical complications and was not able to play in as many tournaments as we were hoping due to Covid-19, also showed strong confidence throughout the tournament,” added Wijaya.
“I hope they can perform at a more consistent level,” continued Wijaya.
In the mixed doubles final, Malaysia’s scratch pair, Tee Kai Wun/Teoh Mei Xing fought their heart out to upset No. 3 seeds, Callum Hemming/Jessica Pugh of England 21-15, 13-21, 21-19, clinching their maiden international title.
Tee Kai Wun also enjoyed his second success of the day when he and his men’s doubles partner – Man Wei Chong, defeated Lucas Corvee/Ronan Labar of France 21-15, 21-18 in 37 minutes to win their second international title of 2021. The pair won the Polish Open on March 28, 2021.
The men’s singles final saw No. 3 seed, Pablo Abian of Spain managed to keep the men’s title at home by overcoming Jan Louda of Czech Republic 22-20, 20-22, 21-14 in the final.
Meanwhile, Alyssa Tirtosentono/Imke Van Der Aar of the Netherlands outlasted Paula Lopez/Lorena Usle of Spain 21-11, 21-19 in 33 minutes to win the women’s doubles title.
