Loh Kean Yew was in the spotlight when competing against Malaysia. The 2021 World Champion in the men's singles category could not contribute to a victory for his country Singapore. Loh Kean Yew surprisingly lost with a quite significant score gap to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in straight games 6-21, 14-21.
On day 2 of the Selangor Badminton Asia Team Championships, Singapore lost to Malaysia in the preliminary match of Group B. However, on day 3, they came back stronger and win 3-2 over Japan.
Kean Yew opened the scoring for Singapore. He was able to defeat Riku Hatano, who is ranked
#340, with two straight games 21-16, 21-15. The victory from Kean Yew motivated his colleagues to follow in his footsteps so that they can beat Japan.
Malaysia was able to move up in Group B after their 5-0 win against Kazakhstan. In this match, the hosts kept their best badminton players, namely Lee Zii Jia, the men's singles ranked 7th in the world, and the bronze-winning doubles of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which was held in 2021 against Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik. Of all the victories over Kazakhstan, none lasted more than 30 minutes. On Friday (18/2/2022), Malaysia is meeting Japan. If they come down with their best players, they will be able to overcome Japan, which has reduced their composition of young athletes.
In Group A, Indonesia temporarily became the leader of the standings after beating Korea with a 3-2 score. Indonesia was behind 1-2 prior to this. Before the end, in the fourth and fifth rounds, namely the second doubles and singles when they won. The doubles players ranked 28th in the world, Carnando Leo Rolly/Daniel Marthin, who is also the 2019 Junior World Champion, was able to defeat Noh Jin Seong/Yoo Dae Il 21-13, 21-13.
The victory that made the score draw to 2-2 before finally being ended by Christian Adinata, ranked 202 in the world, in a tight match of three games 21-19, 11-21, 21-17 over Jeong Min Sun, who does not yet have a senior ranking. The second match lasted 59 minutes. This is the second victory for Indonesia after previously overcoming Hong Kong China 4-1 on 15 February.
Despite losing, Korea's chances of qualifying for the semifinals are still open because they were able to defeat India with a landslide score (15/2/2022). Only, for that, Korea must be able to beat Hong Kong China on Day 4 (18/2/2022).
In the women's group, Indonesia also has to work hard to be able to lead Group Z. Had been leading through the first single, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, the 2017 Junior World Champion, Indonesia trailed 1-2. Only in the second and fifth doubles, Indonesia could reap victory through Nita Violina Marwah/Lanny Tria Mayasari, and Stephanie Widjaja and make Indonesia win 3-2 over Korea.
These results made Indonesia qualify for the semifinals with champion status with three wins in three matches. Besides Korea, Indonesia also successfully defeated Hong Kong China 4-1 (15/2/2022) and Kazakhstan 5-0 (16/2/2022). Despite the defeat, Korea still qualified as a runner-up with two wins, namely over Kazakhstan 5-0 (15/2/2022) and Hong Kong China also with 5-0 the day after.
While in Group Y, the hosts made sure to qualify for the semifinals with the status of group winners. In their last match on February 16, they beat India 3-2. The day before, they also beat India with the same score, 3-2. Malaysia's next counterpart will be determined in Japan's match against India.
