KUALA LUMPUR: Japan continued to be an emerging threat for Malaysia when their promising stars prevented a Malaysian double victory in the Austria Open in Vienna.

The two Malaysian pairs – Nelson Heg Wei Keat-Teo Ee Yi and Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean – were looking good for the men’s and women’s doubles titles but suffered narrow defeats in the semi-finals and final respectively.

Following the shock defeat of top seeds Chooi Kah Ming-Ow Yao Han in the second round of the men’s doubles, hopes were high on 2011 world junior champions Wei Keat-Ee Yi to keep Malaysia’s flag flying but they were stunned 21-18, 13-21, 20-22 by Japan’s Hiroyuki Saeki-Ryota Taohata in the last four.

There was a narrow loss for top seeds Mei Kuan-Meng Yean, who lost 14-21, 20-22 to Aratama Mistato-Megumi Taruno in the final on Saturday.

Malaysia also squandered a good chance to win a title when top seeds Tan Aik Quan-Lai Pei Jing’s challenge ended prematurely in the quarter-finals – losing 18-21, 11-21 to Nilyoke Vasin-Artima Serithammarak of Thailand.

The biggest disappointment came in the singles department.

Back-up shuttlers Goh Soon Huat and Loh We Sheng did not clear the opening rounds of the men’s event. Soon Huat lost to Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan but it Wei Sheng’s defeat by Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne surely raised a huge concern.

It was the same in the women’s singles, with Sonia Cheah and Yang Yi Lian losing to Sayali Gokhale of India and Czech Republic’s Kristina Gavnholt in the second round and quarter-finals respectively.

It’s quite embarrassing to see Malay­sia failing to win at least one title in the lower ranked tournament, especially since all those sent were the country’s promising players.

Their defeats should spur the Bad­minton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to re-double their efforts to further im­prove the players’ confidence and per­formances on the international stage.

Results

(Matches involving Malaysians only)

MEN’S SINGLES

First round: Chou Tien-chen bt Goh Soon Huat 21-15, 21-12; Niluka Karunaratne (Srl) bt Loh Wei Sheng 21-19, 21-12.

MEN’S DOUBLES

First round: Chooi Kah Ming-Ow Yao Han bt Paul Demmelmayer-Dominik Trojan (Aut) 21-8, 21- 12; Nelson Heg Wei Keat-Teo Ee Yi bt Takdanai Boonrawd-Tankmanustong Warut (Tha) 21-16, 21-9.

Second round: Kah Ming-Yao Han bt Vilson Vattanirappel-Lukas Weissenback (Aut) 21-11, 21- 6; Wei-Keat-Ee Yi bt Magnus Sahlberg-Mattias Wigardt (Swe) 21-17, 21-5.

Quarter-finals: Chan Yun Lung-Lee Chun Hei (Hkg) bt Kah Ming-Yao Han 21-18, 19-21, 21-19; Wei Keat-Ee Yi bt Mattjis Dierickx-Freek Golinski (Ger) 23-21, 21-18.

Semi-finals: Hiroyuki Saeki-Ryota Taohata (Jpn) bt Wei Keat-Ee Yi 18-21, 21-13, 22-20.

WOMEN’S SINGLES

First round: Yang Li Lian bt Alesia Zaitsava (Bul) 21-16, 21-16, Sonia Cheah bt Ksenia Polikarpova (Rus) 21-12, 21-16.

Second round: Sayali Gokhale (Ind) bt Li Lian 23-21, 21-12, Sonia bt Sarah Walker (Eng) 21-14, 21-12.

Quarter-finals: Kristina Gavnholt (Cze) bt Sonia 21-18, 12-21, 21-18.

WOMEN’S DOUBLES

Second round: Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean bt Julia Herndlhofer-Michaela Mathis (Aut) 21-5, 21-10.

Quarter-finals: Mei Kuan-Meng Yean bt Saengchote Natcha-Sarita Suwannakitborihan Sarita (Tha) 21-11, 21-8.

Semi-finals: Mei Kuan-Meng Yean bt Irina Khlebko-Ksenia Polikarpova (Rus) 18-21, 21-13, 21-18.

Final: Aratama Misato-Megumi Taruno (Jpn) bt Mei Kuan-Meng Yean 21-14, 22-20.

MIXED DOUBLES

First round: Tan Aik Quan-Lai Pei Jing bt Warut Tankmanustong-Sarita Suwannakitborihan (Tha) 21-13, 21-12; Teo Ee Yi-Lee Meng Yean bt Freek Golinski-Severine Corvilan (Ger) 21-6, 24-22.

Second round: Aik Quan-Pei Jing bt Manuel Heumann-Barbara Bellenberg (Ger) 21-9, 21-10; Ee Yi-Meng Yean bt Roman Zirnwald-Elisabeth Baldauf (Aut) 21-15, 21-13.

Quarter-finals: Nilyoke Vasin-Artima Serithammarak (Tha) bt Aik Quan-Pei Jing 21-18, 21-11; Chan Yun Lung-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) 21-16, 21-16.

• Please wait.

• Revington: South Africa Test matches will be the final selection
• Sweet revenge as Froch defeats Kessler
• Kuchar takes one-shot lead into final round at Colonial
• Froch beats Kessler to retain IBF super middleweight title
• Kenny Perry stalks Senior PGA Championship title
• China confident of sweeping aside their final opponents
• Hafizh needs to step up a gear after coming in fifth
• Affendi brushes off hand injury to win CP130 race in Terengganu
• England-NZ second Test washed out
• Koreans in the final despite Dong-keun’s loss