PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing survived a scare to seal a 5-0 win for Malaysia over United Arab Emirates in the mixed team event of the Asian Junior Championships.
Malaysia were already leading 4-0 in the last Group B match and were assured of the overall win and top spot in the group when Aaron-Khai Xing stepped on the court.
The pair were favourites to seal a perfect win but were made to sweat by Dev Ayyapan-Dhiren Ayyapan before coming away with a narrow 24-22, 21-18 win at the Among Rogo Sports Hall in Yogyakarta yesterday.
Aaron-Khai Xing, who rose to a career-high No. 81 in the recent world rankings, were pushed hard by the world No. 124 duo but managed to stay composed to come away with the win.
Earlier, Khai Xing had combined with Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan in the mixed doubles to easily beat Dev Vishnu-Taabia Khan 21-9, 21-13 to give Malaysia the first point.
Siti Zulaikha Azmi then gave the team the second point by overcoming Mysha Omar 22-20, 21-10 in the women’s singles.
The other points were contributed by Mohd Faiq Masawi and girls’ doubles pair Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting.
Faiq was pleased to win a point for the team after making a slow start in his match.
“It took me some time to settle down in the first game and made a lot of simple mistakes,” said Faiq.
“I tightened up my game in the second and made fewer mistakes. I’m happy to secure a point for the team and hope to continue improving in my upcoming matches.”
The team will face India in the quarter-finals today with full confidence as group champions. Earlier, they had brushed past Macau and Kazakhstan with 5-0 victories respectively.
RESULTS
Group A: South Korea bt Thailand 4-1
Group B: Malaysia bt United Arab Emirates 5-0 (Kang Khai Xing-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan bt Dev Vishnu-Taabia Khan 21-9, 21-13; Siti Zulaikha Azmi bt Mysha Omar 22-20, 21-10; Mohd Faiq Masawi bt Bharath Latheesh 21-18, 21-13; Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting bt Taabia Khan-Sakshi Kurbkhelgi 21-9, 21-13; Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing bt Dev Ayyapan-Dhiren Ayyapan 24-22, 21-18); Macau bt Kazakhstan 4-1.
Group C: Indonesia bt India 4-1; Vietnam bt Philippines 4-1.
Group D: Singapore bt Hong Kong 3-2.
