Back-up shuttler Wei Feng reaches his ever Open final

PETALING JAYA: Back-up men singles shuttler Chong Wei Feng achieved a breakthrough in his career when he reached his first ever Open final in the Vietnam Open at Ho Chi Minh City yesterday.

He defeated Tommy, the son of former great Icuk Sugiarto of Indonesia, with a 21-17, 21-19 win in a semi-final match that lasted for 50 minutes.

Wei Feng will take on home favourites Nguyen Tien Minh, who has been quite invincible at home, in the final today.

The Malaysian, who had crashed out in the early round of every tournament this year said that making the final of an Open international tournament for the first time was a big boost.

“Reaching the final here is certainly a great bonus for me. Finally, I get to experience the joy of playing in my first final,” said Wei Feng in a telephone interview.

“But the battle is far from over for me. I have lost to Tien Minh in the final of the Vietnam Satellite last year. I vow to give my best against him tomorrow,” he said.

Wei Feng has been training under former world champion Hendrawan since July and there has been better commitment from the latter in training.

Meanwhile, it was a mixed fortune for Laos SEA Games-bound Chan Peng Soon yesterday.

Peng Soon did well with Goh Liu Ying in the mixed doubles when they fended off a strong challenge from compatriot Lim Khim Wah-Ng Hui Lin to win 21-16, 19-21, 21-18.

They will take on the unique combination of Flandy Limpele of Indonesia and Cheng Wen-hsing of Taiwan in the final today.

A win will certainly be a timely boost ahead of the Games, where the duo are determined to win a medal in the mixed doubles event.

But it was the end of road for Peng Soon in the men’s doubles when together with Khim Wah, they went down 10-21, 21-14, 15-21 to compatriot Hoon Thien How-Ong Soon Hock.

Thien How-Soon Hock will take on Indonesians Alven Yulianto-Joko Riyadi, who turned the tables on Malaysia’s veterans and top seeds Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah with a 21-17, 22-20 win in the other semi-final yesterday.

Malaysia’s challenge ended in the women’s competition with the exits of singles shuttler Lydia Cheah and doubles pairs Sabrina Chong-Woon Khe Wei and Lai Pei Jing-Ng Hui Ern.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 10:55 AM. Filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0