Eei Hui-Pei Tty eye first win over Indonesian nemesis

KUALA LUMPUR: A match for Malaysia’s top women’s pair Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty to get the better of their Indonesian nemesis is on the cards in the final Group B tie of the Sudirman Cup world mixed team championships in Qingdao today.

Eei Hui-Pei Tty are expected to play against world No. 5 Meiliana Jauhari-Greysia Polii, whom they have not beaten before in four meetings since last year.

Their latest defeat was at the India Open last month when they went down in straight games in the quarter-finals of the India Open. But at the Uber Cup Finals last year, they gave the top Indonesians a harrowing time before losing 24-26, 18-21.

Eei Hui-Pei Tty have always shown great fighting spirit in team events and a win for the first time over Meiliana-Greysia can certainly turn the tide for Malaysia in a tie to decide who qualify for the quarter-finals as the group winners.

But more than just a win, Pei Tty is looking for a timely boost ahead of the world championships, which will be held in London from Aug 8-14.

The duo showed strong determination to seal a place in the world meet with commendable performances over the last three months, including a runners-up finish in the Australia Grand Prix Gold.

Eei Hui and Pei Tty are playing as a pair again after a knee surgery put the latter out of action for eight months.

Pei Tty has vowed to take her game a notch higher in Qingdao.

“My knee is holding up fine. It’s nice to be playing good badminton again.

“I hope that my condition will get better and better,” she said.

“The Sudirman Cup is important.

“We hope to play our part. It will not be easy against the Indonesians but we hope to end our losing streak against them.

“Our main focus is to do well in the world championships and also in next year’s Olympic Games.

“We hope to regain our position among the top five pairs in the world.”

Pei Tty-Eei Hui are now ranked at No. 46 and a win against the seeded pair will certainly push their standing a few rungs up.

The others expected to be in action in the tie against Indonesia are Lee Chong Wei, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Tee Jing Yi and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying.

Malaysia can expect to get two points from Chong Wei and Kien Keat-Boon Heong in probable matches against Simon Santoso and Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano respectively.

But Jing Yi and Peng Soon-Liu Ying face tough tasks to overcome their higher ranked opponents – Adrianti Firdasari and Fran Kurniawan-Pia Zebadiah Bernadet.

If Peng Soon-Liu Ying can stay consistent, they have an even chance to grab a point for Malaysia. They defeated Fran-Pia for the first time in their fifth meeting at the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold in Alor Setar last month.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 1:57 PM. Filed under Top News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0