Simply red: Teo Ee Yi (front) and Ong Yew Sin smashed their way into the Asian Championships final after beating Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan 21-16, 26-24.
PETALING JAYA: The striking hair-do of Teo Ee Yi has proven to be the charm.
Yesterday, Ee Yi and Ong Yew Sin were in red-hot form as they stunned Japan’s 2021 world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi 21-16, 26-24 to storm into the men’s doubles final of the Asian Championships in Dubai.
It was only world No. 8 Yew Sin-Ee-Yi’s second win against the world No. 4 Hoki-Kobayashi in nine meetings but it must be one of the most thrilling matches.
Ee Yi, sporting a reddish-orange coloured hair, bruised his knee after a fantastic dive at 19-18 in the second game and came out of it even more fired up.
Together they battled hard to keep their composure for a deserving 26-24 win.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi will take on either reigning Olympics champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin or India’s Swiss Open winners Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in the title match.
Independent coach Rosman Razak was proud of his charges.
“Yew Sin-Ee Yi managed to carry out the game plan very well,” said Rosman.
“They were a bit shaky in the second game but thankfully managed to pull through.
“Their job is not done yet as there is another tough match tomorrow (today) and they need to prepare well for a strong finish.
If they win, it will be their biggest career title.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie can look forward to returning to the top six in the world again although their run in the Asian meet ended in the semi-finals.
Yesterday, Soon Huat-Shevon saw their winless streak against China’s world No. 1 and defending champions Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong continue after going down 11-21, 13-21.
It was their 11th defeat against the pair, who hardly gave them room to win points.
The world No. 8 last reached No. 6 in the rankings in 2018 but are projected to climb up two rungs after their best result in a Super 1000 level tournament in recent times.
Soon Huat-Shevon will next turn their attention to the Sudirman Cup in Suzhou from May 14-21.
in the men’s singles, Singapore’s 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew will take on Indonesia’s world No. 2 Anthony Ginting in a mouth-watering final.
