Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi can be thankful for an inspired showing by Korea’s Choi Sol Gyu/Kim Won Ho as Day 3 results fell the way of the Malaysians to see them top men’s doubles Group A at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2022.
After proving too strong for top seeds Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto in three tight games, the world No.8 pair had to wait for the outcome of the Choi/Kim versus Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi match to learn their fate.
As it transpired, the Koreans produced their best badminton of the week to sweep the defending champions in straight games. But the nervous wait didn’t seem to bother Ong and Teo though who headed into town to grab some food following their win.
Men’s Doubles Group A Standings
“No [I’m not going to watch]. I want to go to the shopping mall and watch a movie and grab some pork knuckle rice,” said Teo.
“Not sure if it’s our best performance or not, but I’m happy I really enjoyed the game. I didn’t care whether we won or lost, I just wanted to do our best today and have fun.”
Ong was similarly quite relaxed about their effort.
“We’re very happy with the win. The hope was to qualify for the semifinals. Throughout the year they’ve been fantastic but we didn’t think so much about the past, we knew we had a chance today.”
It was a great day for Malaysia with Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing also progressing to the semifinals.
Their upset victory over Olympic champions Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping on Day 1 proved its weight in gold as the Malaysians played freely today knowing a win would most likely see them through.
Mixed Doubles Group B Standings
Tan and Lai had this to say following their win.
Happiness and relief for Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing 🇲🇾 👏#BWFWorldTourFinals #Bangkok2022 pic.twitter.com/UCSQGbHrXR
— BWF (@bwfmedia) December 9, 2022