Zii Jia, five M’sian pairs qualify for BWF World Tour Finals

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s top singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia and five pairs from the country have made the cut for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals, which will be held at the Impact Arena from Jan 27-31 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The five Malaysian pairs are Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi in men’s doubles, Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean and Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen in women’s doubles and mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai.

They qualified for the season-ending tournament after finishing among the top eight in their respective categories in the HSBC BWF Road to Bangkok Rankings.

According to Badminton World Federation (BWF) rules, a maximum of two players or pairs per member association are eligible to participate in the World Tour Finals.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Sabah revenue hits RM6.97 billion: Hajiji says GRS State Government may see full term

Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Government continued its momentum in managing the economy in line with the commitment and spirit of the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) when it posted record high state revenue of RM6.973 billion last year.

It is mandatory to enter both the Yonex Thailand Open and Toyota Thailand Open, which preceded the season-ending finale, in order to be eligible for the World Tour Finals.

However, Malaysia failed to have any representatives in the women singles in the US$1.5 million (RM6.07 million) tournament.

The draw for the World Tour Finals is scheduled for 10am Bangkok time (11am in Malaysia) Tuesday. Meanwhile, except for top men’s doubles pair Aaron and Wooi Yik, the other national players were a disappointment in the recent back-to-back Thailand Open tournaments, said Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Wong Choong Hann.

He said although Chia and Soh put up a decent performance at the Yonex Thailand Open from Jan 12-17 and Toyota Thailand Open from Jan 19-24 in Bangkok, there is still room for improvement.

“It’s a good start for them this year, and I hope they will gain more confidence in all areas. From the match, we can see they have a lot of catching up to do.

“We will continue to work on it, and our comeback is on the right track,” he said Monday.

Chia and Soh crashed out in the opening round of the Yonex Thailand Open but bounced back strongly in the Toyota Thailand Open, where they lost to sixth seeds Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Taiwan 13-21 and 18-21 in the final on Sunday.

Choong Hann believed that women’s doubles pair M. Thinaah-Pearly Tan Koong Le and mixed doubles players Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See had gained valuable experience competing against top pairs in both competitions.

Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.

Daily Express Malaysia

“Both of them are still not on par with other top pairs in terms of strength and tactical execution speed. We need to work harder (on them),” added Choong Hann.

He hoped the Malaysians who qualified for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals would do better to make up for their disappointment in the two open tournaments.

Try 1 month for RM 18.00

Try 1 month for RM 18.00

Try 1 month for RM 18.00