Malaysia will have three representatives in the semi-finals of the 2026 Korea Masters after an impressive day of quarter-final action at Asan Yi Sun-sin Gymnasium, highlighted by a stunning upset from professional men’s singles shuttler Cheam June Wei.
June Wei produced one of the performances of the tournament by defeating seventh seed Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei in a thrilling three-game battle, while Malaysia also secured two places in the men’s doubles semi-finals.
The Malaysian professional battled for 67 minutes before overcoming the higher-ranked Su Li Yang 23-21, 10-21, 21-18 to book his place in the last four of the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament.
More importantly, the victory extended June Wei’s perfect record against the Taiwanese player to three wins from three meetings, underlining his growing confidence on the international stage.
Standing between June Wei and a place in the final is China’s Zhu Xuan Chen, with both players set to clash in Saturday’s semi-final.
The Korea Masters offers a total prize purse of USD250,000 (approximately RM1.02 million).
Malaysia also guaranteed a men’s doubles semi-finalist after newly-formed pair Tee Kai Wun-Yap Roy King comfortably defeated compatriots Aaron Chia-Aaron Tai.
Kai Wun and Roy King needed just 28 minutes to claim a convincing 21-12, 21-15 victory, continuing their encouraging progress as a new partnership.
They will now face Japan’s Shuji Sawada-Daigo Tanioka for a place in the championship match.
Another Malaysian men’s doubles pair, Man Wei Chong-Soh Wooi Yik, also booked their semi-final ticket in emphatic fashion.
The duo completely outclassed India’s Krishna Prasad Garaga-Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy, cruising to a dominant 21-7, 21-8 victory.
Their reward is a semi-final showdown against Japanese pair Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa.
It was disappointment, however, in the mixed doubles event as all three Malaysian pairs bowed out in the quarter-finals.
Chen Tang Jie-Clarissa San suffered a narrow defeat to Japan’s Haruki Kawabe-Kokona Ishikawa, losing 20-22, 17-21.
Fifth seeds Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin were unable to overcome home favourites Kim Jae Hyeon-Jang Ha Jeong, falling 17-21, 18-21 in a 43-minute contest.
Meanwhile, Loo Bing Kun-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan exited after a 14-21, 15-21 defeat to China’s third-seeded pair Gao Jia Xuan-Wu Meng Ying in their first-ever meeting.
Credit Photo : BERNAMA
