Reality check for Next-Gen players in Canada
PETALING JAYA: The current generation of Malaysia's men's and women's singles shuttlers are still finding it tough to rise to the occasion, with performances falling short at lower-tier international tournaments.
At the ongoing Canada Open in Markham, Malaysia's challenge ended in the quarter-finals with the exits of Eogene Ewe and Wong Ling Ching.
Eogene was beaten 6-21, 21-11, 9-21 by Canada's Victor Lai in the men's singles, while Ling Ching narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot after losing 21-17, 20-22, 15-21 to Vietnam's Nguyen Thuy Linh in the women's singles.
Earlier, Justin Hoh and K. Letshanaa also made early exits in the tournament.
Despite being seen as rising prospects, these players continue to struggle in lower-ranked events and will need to raise their game significantly to close the gap on the international stage.
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New Straits Times
24-07-2025
- New Straits Times
WUG 2025: Five Malaysian representatives progress to badminton round of 32
MULHEIM AN DER RUHR (Germany): Malaysia's badminton campaign at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 World University Games (WUG) continued to progress with five national representatives advancing to the round of 32 early today, Malaysian time. Two national men's singles shuttlers, Jacky Kok Jing Hong and Eogene Ewe, booked their berths after defeating their respective opponents in the round of 64 at the Westenergie Sporthalle. Jacky is set to face Sok Rekreay of Sri Lanka while Eogene will meet Donnias Oliveira of Brazil. In the women's singles event, Wong Ling Ching will play Weronika Gorniak of Poland, while Siti Zulaikha Muhammad Azmi is scheduled to meet Suhasni Vidanage of Sri Lanka. Also advancing are mixed doubles pair Liew Xun-Vannee Gobi, who will take on Sathish Kumar Karunakaran-Vaishnavi Khadkekar of India. Malaysia, however, failed to at least defend its bronze medal in the men's doubles event after Muhammad Fazriq Mohamad Rashid-Bryan Jeremy Gooting were ousted by Japan's Shiina Sato-Tsubasa Yoshida 9-15, 7-15 in the round of 32. Earlier, the same Japanese pair had eliminated another Malaysian duo, Liew Xun-Wee Yee Hern, 15-12, 15-10 in the round of 64. In archery action at Sportpark Am Hallo in Essen, Malaysia moved into the 1/8 elimination round in both the men's and women's recurve team events, as well as the men's and women's compound team events. The mixed recurve team is set to compete in the 1/12 elimination round. Meanwhile, on the final day of taekwondo, Malaysia ended its campaign without a medal after the men's team kyorugi trio of Ahmad Nor Iman Hakim Rakib, Fu Cern Put Thai and Muhammad Syafiq Zuber went down 0-2 to Taiwan in the round of 16. At the Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark in Berlin, Tan Khai Xin failed to progress in the final day of swimming events after finishing fourth in heat two of the men's 400-metre individual medley with a time of 4 minutes 33.78 seconds. The men's 4x100m medley relay quartet of Khiew Hoe Yean, Andrew Goh, Leong Bryan Xin Ren and Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal also failed to advance after finishing seventh in heat four with a time of 3:42.47. In athletics, Jonah Chang Rigan missed out on a spot in the men's shot put final after finishing 16th in the qualifying round with a throw of 17.75 metres at Lohrheidestadion in Bochum. – BERNAMA
The Sun
24-07-2025
- The Sun
Malaysian shuttlers advance to WUG 2025 badminton round of 32
MALAYSIA'S badminton campaign at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 World University Games (WUG) continued to progress with five national representatives advancing to the round of 32 early today, Malaysian time. Two national men's singles shuttlers, Jacky Kok Jing Hong and Eogene Ewe, booked their berths after defeating their respective opponents in the round of 64 at the Westenergie Sporthalle. Jacky is set to face Sok Rekreay of Sri Lanka while Eogene will meet Donnias Oliveira of Brazil. In the women's singles event, Wong Ling Ching will play Weronika Gorniak of Poland, while Siti Zulaikha Muhammad Azmi is scheduled to meet Suhasni Vidanage of Sri Lanka. Also advancing are mixed doubles pair Liew Xun-Vannee Gobi, who will take on Sathish Kumar Karunakaran-Vaishnavi Khadkekar of India. Malaysia, however, failed to at least defend its bronze medal in the men's doubles event after Muhammad Fazriq Mohamad Rashid-Bryan Jeremy Gooting were ousted by Japan's Shiina Sato-Tsubasa Yoshida 9-15, 7-15 in the round of 32. Earlier, the same Japanese pair had eliminated another Malaysian duo, Liew Xun-Wee Yee Hern, 15-12, 15-10 in the round of 64. In archery action at Sportpark Am Hallo in Essen, Malaysia moved into the 1/8 elimination round in both the men's and women's recurve team events, as well as the men's and women's compound team events. The mixed recurve team is set to compete in the 1/12 elimination round. Meanwhile, on the final day of taekwondo, Malaysia ended its campaign without a medal after the men's team kyorugi trio of Ahmad Nor Iman Hakim Rakib, Fu Cern Put Thai and Muhammad Syafiq Zuber went down 0-2 to Taiwan in the round of 16. At the Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark in Berlin, Tan Khai Xin failed to progress in the final day of swimming events after finishing fourth in heat two of the men's 400-metre individual medley with a time of 4 minutes 33.78 seconds. The men's 4x100m medley relay quartet of Khiew Hoe Yean, Andrew Goh, Leong Bryan Xin Ren and Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal also failed to advance after finishing seventh in heat four with a time of 3:42.47. In athletics, Jonah Chang Rigan missed out on a spot in the men's shot put final after finishing 16th in the qualifying round with a throw of 17.75 metres at Lohrheidestadion in Bochum. - Bernama
New Straits Times
22-07-2025
- New Straits Times
Shuttlers Justin, Letshanaa urged to conquer pressure
KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttlers Justin Hoh (men's singles) and K. Letshanaa (women's singles) must start believing in themselves and learn to handle pressure if they want to make an impact on the World Tour. National coach K. Yogendran said both shuttlers are putting in the work at training, but it isn't translating into results during tournaments. The frailties were evident at recent World Tour events. World No. 48 Justin crashed out in the second round of the US Open and suffered a first-round exit at the Canada Open despite aiming for the quarter-finals or better. World No. 40 Letshanaa, Malaysia's top-ranked women's singles player, pulled off a shock win over Japan's 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara (No. 47) in the US Open first round en route to the quarter-finals. But a week later, she bowed out in round two of the Canada Open. Both were Super 300-level tournaments. "Justin and Letshanaa are training very hard, and we expected something special at the US and Canada Opens," said Yogendran. "Justin really wanted to prove himself. He placed a lot of pressure on himself and that became a burden. "Letshanaa, meanwhile, started feeling pressure after beating Nozomi. But it's still a breakthrough for her. It will boost her belief that she can beat top players." Yogendran said it's normal for young players to struggle with consistency and confidence but insisted progress would come if they trusted the process. The coach also pointed out that Justin, 21, is still working his way back after surgery for a torn Achilles tendon last year — an injury that sidelined him for almost a year. He believes the guidance of national coaching director Kenneth Jonassen, who helped shape Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen and world No. 2 Anders Antonsen, could prove crucial. "Justin is going through a thorny phase in his career after missing a year to injury," said Yogendran. "Both players are now competing in tougher Super 300 tournaments. Previously, they were mostly playing International Challenge, Series and Super 100 events. "Jonassen has seen it all — he's worked with top players who faced similar struggles early on. We're also trying to simulate pressure-filled situations in training to help the players better adapt to real match conditions." Justin and Letshanaa will be aiming for redemption at the Super 300 Macau Open from July 29-Aug 3, using the lessons learnt in the US and Canada.
