Gritty Girls Go Down Fighting As They Pick Up The Bronze

JAKARTA: Malaysia’s young women’s badminton team showed true grit as they battled for more than four hours before going down fighting 3-1 to Indonesia on a day when rain played havoc at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno here yesterday.

The defeat saw defending champions Malaysia settling for a bronze medal.

The Malaysian girls can still walk tall as they had to take on the hosts without the services of Wong Mew Choo and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty.

Too much to bear: Malaysia’s Tee Jing Yi reacting during her match against Indonesia’s Linda Wenifanetri in Jakarta Sunday. — AFP

They showed great composure, refusing to be overawed by the fanatical fans at the stadium.

Malaysia’s only point came from Indonesian Open Grand Prix Gold champions Woon Khe Wei-Vivian Hoo. But the others – Tee Jing Yi, Lydia Cheah and Marylen Ng Paou Leng-Lim Yin Loo – went down fighting.

The match of the day was between Khe Wei-Vivian and Vita Marissa-NadyaMelati, with both pairs refusing to budge in a ding-dong battle that lasted one hour and 20 minutes.

But Khe Wei-Vivian showed steely resolve at the crucial stage for a hard-earned 21-19, 21-23, 28-26 win to level the tie following Jing Yi’s 21-18, 13-21, 15-21 loss to Linda Wenifanetri.

With the teams tied at 1-1, Lydia took to the court all fired up and pulverised Adrianti Firdasari 21-7 in the first game.

Then, the roof began to leak and the players had to switch to an adjacent court.

The interruption caused Lydia to lose her rhythm and her focus, allowing Adrianti to come back and win the next two games 21-13, 21-14.

Her defeat and that of Marylen-Yin Loo allowed Indonesia to set up a final with Thailand.

National woman doubles coach Rexy Mainaky was happy with the fighting spirit of the shuttlers.

“It could have easily been a 3-0 rout but our players gave it their all. The singles players rose to the occasion but did not have good finishing,” said Rexy.

“But these girls showed that they are on the right track for next year’s Uber Cup qualifying round. This is a valuable learning experience for them.”

While the women’s challenge has ended, it will be the moment of truth for the men’s back-up team led by Liew Daren, when they take on defending champions Indonesia in the final tomorrow.