31st SEA Games: News In Brief

From R. Vikneswaran

HANOI, May 17 (Bernama) -- Following are news-in-brief items involving Malaysian athletes at the 31st SEA Games here today:

Badminton: Men’s Team Set Up Finals Encounter With Thailand

Malaysia came back from behind to beat Singapore 3-2 in the semi-finals of the team event and set up an encounter against Thailand in the final at the Bac Giang Gymnasium, on Wednesday.

Shaqeem Eiman Shahyar emerged as the hero when he grabbed the winning point by beating Joel Koh 21-10, 21-17.

Earlier, the country’s first singles representative Jacky Kok Jing Hong was no match for world champion Loh Kean Yew as he lost 12-21, 12-21, while Man Wei Chong-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi succumbed 19-21, 13-21 to Terry Hee Yong Kai-Loh Kean Hean.

Being 0-2 down, young shuttler Lee Shun Yang displayed a commendable performance by recording a 21-12, 21-23, 21-16 victory over Singapore's more experienced player, Jason Teh Jia Heng.

This certainly lifted the spirits of the team as Chen Tang Jie-Mohd Haikal Nazri then went on to level the score by beating Andy Kwek Jun Liang-Danny Chrisnanta 21-17, 21-15, before Shaqeem wrapped up the victory in style.

Thailand advanced to the final after a shock 3-2 win against defending champions Indonesia.

Golfers Shine on the Course

The country’s men’s and women’s golfers put on a stellar performance as they advanced to the finals of their respective team events at the Heron Lake Golf Course & Resort today.

However, they will face a stiff challenge against favourites Thailand for the gold.

In today's semi-finals, Ervin Chang, who won gold in the individual event two days ago continued his excellent form as he paired up with Marcus Lim to beat Indonesia 2-1 in the men's category.

Thailand, the defending champions in the men's team event, defeated Singapore 3-0.

Meanwhile, Jeneath Wong and Mirabel Ting confirmed Malaysia's slot in the women's team final after recording a 2-0 victory over Singapore.

They will face the Thai team who booked their slot by defeating the Philippines in the playoffs after both teams were tied 1-1, in another semi-final match.

Archery: Confirmed Medal in Recurve Event

The recurve archery squad has a chance to grab at least a silver medal as Olympians Khairul Anuar Mohamad and Syaqiera Mashayikh advanced to the mixed team recurve final, after beating the Vietnamese 5-4, in the semi-finals.

The national archers also advanced to the bronze medal matches for the men's individual and team events, as well as the women's team event.

Silver from Poomsae Event

Taekwondo athlete Jason Loo contributed a silver medal through the individual Poomsae event, scoring 7.732 points.

Host country representative Quoc Viet Pham grabbed the gold with 8.049 points, while Sippakorn Wetchakornpatiwong (7.566) of Thailand and Muhammad Alfi Kusuma (7.566) of Indonesia shared the bronze.

Malaysia also won bronze in the women's team event with 7.866 points, with Vietnam (8.016) and Thailand (7.882) taking the top two spots.

In the women's individual Poomsae event, Nurul Hidayah Abdul Karim missed out on the bronze when she finished fourth with 7.482 points.

-- BERNAMA