KUALA LUMPUR (12 MAY 2010) – Hosts Malaysia’s hopes of making their first ever Uber Cup semi-finals vanished at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil this afternoon when they were soundly beaten by former champions Indonesia 3-0 in the quarter-finals.
It was a sad end to Malaysia who were hoping for a miracle despite fielding a depleted side following injuries to Lydia Cheah and Julia Wong during training.
The duo were kayoed by knee injuries which forced Malaysia to replace them with rookies Sonia Cheah and Sannatasah Saniru.
Malaysia had their backs against the wall when Wong Mew Choo failed to deliver the crucial, morale boosting first point when she went down 9-21, 16-21 to Indonesia’s second singles Adriyanti Firdasari in 31 minutes.
And when former World No 1 Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui lost 24-26, 18-21 to Greysii Polii-Meiliana Jauhari (image 3) in the first doubles, it was all over for the Malaysians.
Indonesia’s Maria Kristin Yulianti (image 1) gave her team the winning point and an unassailable 3-0 lead with a 21-19, 21-16 in the second singles.
A disappointed Rashid Sidek, the Malaysian chief coach said: “We had expected Malaysia to give a better performance. We were well prepared but in the end it was a disappointing result for us.
“We are very disappointed to have lost 3-0. Lydia and Julia would have made a lot of difference.”
Rashid added that Mew Choo’s (image 2) defeat was the pivotal point for Malaysia.
“We depended on Mew Choo to give us the first point as she had a good record against her opponent - but it never happened. The first doubles was a 50-50 affair but we lost that too.
“Jing Yee went in as underdog and by her present standard she gave her best. She gave a fighting display and lost against a much more experienced player.”
Rashid, however, is looking at brighter things to come in the next Uber Cup tournament.
"We have up and coming young singles and doubles players who are capable of making Malaysia a strong Uber Cup team.
“Except for China, we are not capable of producing two or three players in a year. This the main drawback in Malaysian badminton,” added Rashid.
