KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian shuttlers seemed running out of steam as the country's badminton hopefuls were knocked out in droves at semifinals of Malaysia Masters here on Saturday.
Daren Liew, who knocked out world No. 2 Shi Yuqi of China to make it to the men's semifinals, was forced to quit after sustaining an injury to his left leg during the quarterfinals, paving way for South Korea's Son Wan Ho to advance to the finals.
Meanwhile, world No. 3 Chen Long of China soundly beat Denmark's Viktor Axelsen, ranked as world No. 5, by 21-13, 21-18 and will face Son on Sunday.
"Both Axelsen and I played well, as this is our first tournament in 2019 and in semifinals, we both demonstrated the will to win," said Chen.
Malaysia's Goh Jin Wei was knocked out at the women's singles by Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon 21-16 and 21-16, putting an end to her winning streak against world No. 5 He Bingjiao of China and world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
Ratchanok will face Carolina Marin of Spain in the finals.
Malaysian mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying were beaten by their Japanese opponents Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino despite a strong comeback in second set.
Malaysian men's doubles team Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong were defeated in a close match against No. 1 seed Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 18-21, 22-24.
Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi comforted the home fans by qualifying for the men's doubles' final, only after defeating teammates Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.
