KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 83 mixed doubles pair Wee Yee Hern-Vanee Gobi and world No. 26 women’s doubles pair Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting kept Malaysia’s title hopes alive by reaching the Kaohsiung Masters semi-finals on Friday.
Their victories at the Kaohsiung Arena came as Malaysia’s men’s singles and men’s doubles challenges ended in the quarter-finals of the Super 100 tournament.
Yee Hern-Vanee secured their first semi-final together at a Super-level event with a convincing 21-12, 21-14 victory over Taiwan’s world No. 109 Lu Chen-Chang Yun Jung.
They will face another Taiwanese combination, world No. 273 Lin Sheng Ming-Sun Liang Ching, on Saturday for a place in the final.
Yee Hern-Vanee had previously reached the last four of the Phuket International Challenge in June.
Xin Yee-Carmen overcame a second-game setback to beat Taiwan’s world No. 92 Chou Yun An-Ko Ruo Hsuan 21-13, 20-22, 21-12.
The top seeds will meet Taiwan’s Lin Yen Yu-Wang Yi Zhen in the semi-finals.
The victory earned Xin Yee-Carmen their first semi-final appearance since the Macau Open in June.
There was no joy for world No. 46 Justin Hoh, whose campaign ended with a 21-15, 23-21 defeat by Taiwan’s world No. 116 Kuo Kuan Lin.
Despite the loss, Justin reached his first quarter-final at any Super level since the Taiwan Open in July.
World No. 101 Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin also missed out on the last four after losing 21-16, 13-21, 21-17 to South Korea’s world No. 148 Kim Hae Deun.
World No. 77 Bryan Goonting-Haikal Nazri couldn’t build on their second-round upset of Taiwan’s world No. 49 Lin Chia Yen-Lin Yong Sheng, going down 21-19, 16-21, 21-19 to Indonesia’s world No. 114 Taufik Aderya-Alexius Ongkytama Subagio.
The Malaysian pair had been seeking their first Super-level semi-final together, having reached the last four of the Phuket International Challenge in June.