Malaysian men and women badminton teams into semis

JAKARTA: Malaysia's men and women's SEA Games badminton teams advanced to the semifinals of the team event after defeating their respective opponents at the Istora Senayan Stadium here.

The women's team, the defending champion, will meet Indonesia in the semifinal while the men will be up against the Filipinos.
The Malaysian women made short work of the Filipinas today defeating them 3-0 to book the meeting with the hosts, who also sent the Vietnamese team packing by the same margin.
Tee Jing Yee and Lydia Cheah had little problems against their opponents with Tee sending Malvinne Ann Venic packing in 21-14, 21-15 while Lydia downed Gelita Castilo in 21-8, 21-10.
Sonia Cheah who played the third singles was stretched to three sets by Bianca Carlos before prevailing in 15-21, 21-16 and 21-12 in 43 minutes.
However, the men got off to a bad start against Vietnam when Darren Liew lost 20-22, 14-21 to Nguyen Tien Minh but they recovered with Lim Khim Wah-Goh Wei Shem, Mohamad Arif Ab Latif and Mak Hee Chun-Ong Soon Hock securing a 3-1 victory to take the team into the semis.
Khim Wah-Wei Shem who played the first doubles defeated Dao Manh Thang-Bui Bang Duc 21-14, 21-8 for Malaysia's first point before Mohamad Arif picked up the second by beating Le Ha Anh 21-8, 21-10.
Malaysia's second doubles pair Mak Hee Chun-Ong Soon Hock put things beyond doubt when they downed Duong Bao Duc-Nguyen Hoang Nam 21-10, 21-14 in 19 minutes for the winning point.
The last time the men won the team gold in badminton was at the Manila Games of 2005. At the last Games in Vientiane two years ago, they had to settle for the silver after losing to Indonesia in the final. BERNAMA