Johor to stage series final

China's Wang Lin plays a shot against Bae Seung-hee of South Korea during their women's singles quarterfinal at the Hong Kong Open Super Series yesterday. Wang won 2-0 to advance.

More in photo gallery

THE Super Series Masters Finals will be played in Johor Baru after Malaysian organizers switched the December 2-6 event from Kuala Terengganu.

The southern city was picked after organizers took into account its experience in hosting major badminton events.

"Due to the short time, we felt that Johor Baru will be in a better position to host the event," Badminton Association of Malaysia general manager Kenny Goh told The Star newspaper.

"They have an experienced team. It is also close to Singapore and Indonesia and it will attract the big names from these countries."

The Masters Finals will feature the top eight players in every event based on the Super Series rankings after 12 legs - 10 legs have been completed with the on-going Hong Kong Open and China Open being the last two stops.

At the Hong Kong Open, Vietnamese No. 1 Nguyen Tien Minh failed to advance to the third round after losing to Malaysian Muhammad Hafiz Hashim 22-20, 19-21, 19-21.

Minh who is ranked 7th in the world, went out after 53 minutes competition against the unseeded Malaysian yesterday.

In the women's doubles, China's Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli beat South Korea's Ha Jung-eun and Lee Kyung-won 21-13, 21-16; Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei also saw off the challenge from Korean duo 21-11, 23-21; and Du Jing and Yu Yang toppled compatriot Tian Qing and Zhang Yawen 21-17, 21-10.

In the men's singles yesterday, China's Bao Chunlai ousted Indonesia's Dionysius Rumbaka 21-15, 21-15.

In the women's singles, Jiang Yanjiao beat compatriot Wang Shixian 21-18, 21-13; and Wang Yihan packed off Lu Lan 21-17, 21-15.

Email Story    Printable View    Blog Story    Copy Headline/URL