KUALA LUMPUR: Women’s singles Siti Zulaikha Azmi reached her first senior career final at the Indonesia International Challenge II in Yogyakarta on Saturday.
The world No. 95 Zulaikha had to dig deep, recording a 21-13, 18-21, 21-16 win over world No. 188 Passa Orn Pannachet of Thailand in the semi-finals.
National singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen said he was delighted to see Zulaikha advancing to her first career final, stressing that women’s singles coach Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin is doing a good job.
“Truly positive steps forward after putting in a lot of hard work for several months but not receiving the desired results,” Jonassen said.
Zulaikha will face South Korea‘s world No. 93 Kim Min Jee in the final on Sunday.
Meanwhile, scratch pair Aaron Tai-Tan Zhi Yang reached the men’s doubles final after edging Indonesia’s world No. 56 Putra Erwiansyah-Daniel Edgar Marvino 17-21, 21-14, 21-15 in 64 minutes.
National doubles coach Herry IP, who is in Yogyakarta, said a minor injury to Aaron’s regular partner Kang Khai Xing prompted him to try out the former with junior shuttler Zhi Yang.
“I decided to try Aaron with Zhi Yang after Khai Xing suffered an injury during the Indonesia Masters Super 100 in Medan (in Oct0ber). Good result for them,” said Herry.
“Khai Xing has recovered now and will partner Aaron at the Syed Modi India International next week.”
Aaron-Zhi Yang will play Indonesia’s world No. 146 Ali Faathir Rayhan-Devin Wahyudi, who defeated Malaysia’s world No. 93 Faiq Masawi-Lok Hong Quan 18-21, 21-16, 21-15, in the final on Sunday.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
