Just not their day: Valeree Siow (left) and Low Yeen Yuan in action against Alyssa Ysabel Leornado-Thea Marie Pomar during the women’s doubles match. Inset: Siti Nurshuhaini Azman could not handle the pressure and went down 16-21, 18-21 to Maria Ysabel Carlos. — Bernama
THERE was no redemption for Siti Nurshuhaini Azman after failing to save her team from collapsing to another humiliating defeat in the SEA Games in Cambodia.
The women’s team suffered a new low after shockingly going down 0-3 to the Philippines in the quarter-finals at the Morodok Techo badminton hall in Phnom Penh.
With her team already 0-2 down and tasked with saving the tie, world No. 308 Nurshuhaini could not handle the pressure and went down 16-21, 18-21 to Maria Ysabel Carlos, who does not have a world ranking.
Earlier in the first singles, debutant and world No. 138 Tan Zhing Yi surprisingly went down 22-24, 18-21 to world No. 184 Mikaela De Guzman.
Then, in the women’s doubles, Valeree Siow, who was reunited with Low Yeen Yuan, struggled against Alyssa Ysabel Leornado-Thea Marie Pomar and ended up losing 22-20, 19-21, 22-24.
In last year’s Games, Nurshuhaini had been part of the team that had suffered an unexpected 1-3 defeat to hosts Vietnam in the last eight.
She had played the first singles then and went down 9-21, 8-21 to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh.
The 18-year-old Nurshuhaini was left in tears after her defeat.
“Just like last year, I’m really disappointed in myself for not managing to perform well for my country,” lamented Nurshuhaini.
“In the loss to Vietnam, I could not give the team a good start and this time, I could not save the tie.
“I badly wanted to redeem myself this time but the pressure was a bit overwhelming as it was a must win match for the team.
“I also struggled a bit to control my shots due to the windy conditions here.”
“I need to learn from this defeat and move on.”
Wong Ling Ching, who could not feature due to a fever, has backed her teammates to bounce back in the individual events.
“I had a bad fever on the night before the tie and could not play,” said Ling Ching.
“I’m getting better now after taking medication and I will be able to play in the individual event.
“Honestly, we didn’t expect that the Philippines had good players.
“We can see through this defeat, that we can’t underestimate them anymore. We now need to focus on the individual events (starting on Friday).”
Meanwhile, the men’s team led by Leong Jun Hao will play Vietnam in the quarter-finals today.
