Badminton

Malaysian shuttlers dominate in Greece

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian backup squad have once again come good in Europe, this time winning four out of five titles at the Hellas International in Lavrio, Greece.

Fresh from winning three titles at last week's Latvia International, the Malaysian camp went one up on Sunday, missing out only on the women's singles title.

Valeree Siow was once again the biggest winner, winning both the mixed doubles with Yap Roy King and women's doubles with Low Yeen Yuan titles.

In the mixed doubles final, Roy King-Valeree made easy work of third seeds Carl Christian Mork-Solvar Flaten Joergensen of Denmark with a 21-13, 21-17 win.

In the women's doubles, Yeen Yuan-Valeree upset seconds seeds Katherina Fink-Yasmine Hamza of Italy 21-15, 21-16.

In the men's doubles, last week's finalists Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Haikal Nazri came out tops this week with a comfortable 21-16, 21-15 win over Czech Republic's Ondrej Kral-Adam Mendrek.

Lee Shun Yang completed the title fest for Malaysia when he saw off another Czech shuttler Jan Louda 21-14, 24-22 in the men's singles final.

BA of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Wong Choong Hann said he is happy with the team's performance so far in Europe but does not want to get carried away with their success in lower-tier tournaments.

"We have set the bar high for these players because the Future Series is the lowest tier tournament.

"Note that, there are no players from China, Korea or even Japan, so we expect our players to win these tournaments.

"Having said that, these are good baby steps for them to realise where they stand and what is expected of them," said Choong Hann.

The Malaysian players have got one more assignment, the Ukraine International that starts on Tuesday, before they return home.

RESULTS

(ALL FINALS)

* Malaysians unless stated

Men's singles: Lee Shun Yang bt Jan Louda (Cze) 21-14, 24-22;

Doubles: Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Haikal Nazri bt Ondrej Kral-Adam Mendrek (Cze) 21-16, 21-15;

Women's singles: Abigail Holden (Eng) bt Vivien Sandorhazi (Hun) 18-21, 21-15, 21-14;

Doubles: Low Yeen Yuan-Valeree Siow bt Katherina Fink-Yasmine Hamza (Ita) 21-15, 21-16;

Mixed doubles: Yap Roy King-Valeree Siow bt Carl Christian Mork-Solvar Flaten Joergensen (Den) 21-13, 21-17

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