Sonia Su Ya Cheah confirms a quarter-final berth in 2011 World Junior Championships – Badminton news
Malaysia’s young shuttler Sonia Su Ya Cheah has proved her elevated skills when she booked her quarter-final berth after beating Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong in the round-of-16 contest in the 2011 World Junior Championships, in Chinese Taipei, on Thursday,
November 3.
Sonia lost to Cheung Ngan in the team-event fight of the tournaments. However, in the individual event, the Malaysian displayed better performance and won the match after working hard for three games. The Hong Kong shuttler remained unlucky in the third
set and lost it with a tight score.
It was a smooth ride for Sonia in the first game as she played flawless badminton. In the second game, she lost her focus and played negative strokes which helped her opponent to level the score. In the final set, the Malaysian worked really hard and eventually
emerged as the winner by taking the game with a narrow margin.
In the starting points of the opening set, Sonia played tremendous game and took a wonderful lead against the Hong Kong shuttler. She played to her full potential throughout the game and took it without any problem with an incredible difference of 21-6.
In the following game, Cheung Ngan elevated her game and started to play positively. Her mature approach and better play spared no room for the Malaysian to fight back in the second game. Sonia lost the second game with a decent score of 15-21.
The deciding game was the mouth-watering fight when both ladies played at the same level. Both ladies failed to set up a comfortable lead but none could manage it. The score reached at the ending phase when Sonia played aggressively and remained lucky in
taking the game with a 24-22. The end result of this 48-minute contest was 21-6, 15-21 and 24-22.
After the match, the junior program coordinator Hau Kim Tho said, “She lost to Ngan Yi in the team tie after taking a 20-18 lead. She didn’t make the same mistake again. It was very close but Sonia showed true grit to win the decider (24-22).”.
He further added, “She is looking confident and we hope that she will continue to keep the national flag flying high.”
In the quarter-final, Sonia is set to play against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, who defeated Wan Yi Tang in straight games in the round-of-16.
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