Axiata Cup: Malaysia Tigers lost to Indonesia Garuda in the first leg of semi-final – Badminton news
The heat is on at Axiata Cup 2012, the richest team event championship offering US$1 million, where the Malaysia Tigers lost to Indonesia Garuda in the first leg of semi-final in Jakarta, on Saturday, March 31.
Tigers lost to Indonesian shuttlers with a margin of 1-2 and still have a chance to reach into final if they win the second leg of semi-final with a convincing margin.
In the absence of World Number 1 Lee Chong Wei and Malaysia’s top players Tan Boon Heong – Koo Kien Keat, Malaysia Tigers could not dominate the arena and lost to Indonesians.
However, they bagged a crucial point by winning the second Men’s Singles contest which can help them in the second leg to qualify for the title match.
In the first Men’s Singles fight, the World Number 11 Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia put up an impressive show and defeated Malaysia’s Daren Liew in straight games.
In the first set, Daren played well and remained close to his higher ranked Indonesia opponent.
However, he failed to dominate the pace in the ending points which gave Taufik a considerable advantage and he bagged the set with a 21-19 score on the board.
In the second game, Daren dropped his speed and also failed to place his strokes in the right areas. He could not match the perfection of Taufik who remained dominant and ended the game with a one-sided score of 21-9.
Taufik emerged as the winner against Daren in straight games with a 21-19 and 21-9 score on the board.
In the following fight, Garuda’s Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan defeated Goh V Shem and Lim Khim Wah in straight games with a margin of 21-17 and 21-17.
Tiger’s first point in the match came through Muhammad Hafiz Hashim who emerged as victorious against Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the second Men’s Singles clash.
Hafiz showed an elevated performance and won his contest with an impressive margin of 21-13 and 21-19.
Rashid Sidek, the national coach said that Malaysian shuttlers gave their maximum despite playing without their top shuttlers.
He said, "Our hope was to win here in Jakarta but it looked like Indonesia were just too strong. We are still happy to have got one point as that gives us hope for the return leg (on Sunday) in KL."
Malaysia Tigers’ chances to qualify for the final will become strong if Chong Wei and Kien Keat – Boon Heong play in the second leg of semi-final, which will be held today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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