PETALING JAYA: Independent men’s doubles shuttlers Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi proved that they were far from finished after pulling off a sensational win over Indonesia’s world No. 6 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto to march into the semi-finals of the China Open.
Yew Sin, 29, and Ee Yi, 31, had seen their ranking drop from No. 12 to No. 23 in the world after taking a break from tournaments in April following their failure to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The pair then suffered early round exits when they returned in both the Japan Open last month and Hong Kong Open last week.Yew Sin-Ee Yi though showed that they still have much to offer with an impressive come-from-behind 14-21, 21-17, 21-14 victory over Fajar-Rian at the Olympic Center Gymnasium in Changzhou yesterday.
The Indonesians have always been a thorn in the side of Malaysian pairs and Yew Sin-Ee Yi had lost seven times to them in their past 11 meetings.
Fajar-Rian looked set to claim their eighth win over the Malaysians after easily winning the first game.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi though refused to give up and came out firing to win the next two games to reach only their second semi-final this year after the German Open in March.
Yew Sin was relieved after getting the much-needed win.
“This win is very important for our ranking, confidence and game play. It’s a good win,” Yew Sin told the Badminton World Federation.
“It was a close match. This is quite normal in men’s doubles where it’s always tight no matter who you play against and whether it’s the first round or final.
“After the 11 points in the first game, we just kept our focus and we managed to get a few points in a row.
“We will rest first, then see who we will face next and prepare for the match,” added Yew Sin.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi have another tough hurdle next against either Denmark’s world No. 2 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen or world No. 7 homesters He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu.Meanwhile, another independent pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani also reached the last four after narrowly beating fellow Malaysians Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun 21-19, 21-18.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin will take on Indonesia’s Shohibul Fikri-Daniel Marthin for a place in the final.
