PETALING JAYA: Women’s singles shuttler Siti Zulaikha Azmi remained on track to in her bid to capture her first senior international title by booking her spot in the last four of the Malaysian International Series.
Zulaikha, who is seeded second in the tournament, beat Singapore’s Joelle Chee 21-16, 21-18 in the quarter-final in Johor yesterday.
The 18-year-old will face a tougher challenge against China’s Guo Xinyi next for a place in the final.
Zulaikha last made it into the final in the Sri Lanka International Series in February where she finished runners-up.
The Asian Junior Championship bronze medallist is out to regain her best form after struggling since making her competitive return last month following a heel injury.
Zulaikha was forced to miss the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in August and the World Junior Championships due to her injury, then suffered first round exits in the back-to-back Indonesian International Challenge and Indonesian Masters after making her comeback.
“Siti is slowly playing with more confidence since her return from injury,” said women’s singles coach Jeffer Rosobin.
“I hope she can continue her good form and beat the Chinese player tomorrow (today).
Zulaikha is the last women’s singles representative left in the tournament for Malaysia after Ong Xin Yee and Oo Shan Zi went down fighting in their respective matches against Chinese opponents.
Xin Yee fell 13-21, 21-14, 10-21 to Luo Shengxuan while Shan Zi lost out 12-21, 21-15, 16-21 to Qiu Ziying.
