The Singapore badminton men’s and women’s teams secured the first two medals for our country at the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand on Sunday (December 7). They defeated their opponents in the rematch and advanced to the semi-finals while also locking in at least the bronze medal.
The Chinese women’s team’s game started first in the morning against the Philippines. The Chinese women’s team easily won 3-0.
The number one women’s singles player Yang Jiamin did not play, and Noor Insilia, who took the lead, defeated Micaela Joy de Guzman 21-15, 21-18. Li Xinyi, who played next, reversed Isabel Amora 19-21, 24-22, 21-16. Xu Yuxin ended the battle 21-10, 21-14, defeating Crystal Leigh Fuentespina.
With our country already gaining three points, the next two women’s doubles games were not played. Since there is no bronze medal match, the teams that reach the semi-finals can all win at least the bronze medal, which means that my country, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are all guaranteed to stand on the podium.
The Chinese women’s team will next challenge the defending champion Thailand. Yang Jiamin, ranked 18th in the world, will not appear. Noor Insriya, ranked 146th in the world, will challenge Li Meili, ranked sixth in the world.
Further reading
Badminton sisters share a spiritual connection and join hands in the SEA Games for the first time
The strongest lineup of veterans and rookies, my country’s badminton team heads to the SEA Games aiming for four medals
Men’s team faces Indonesia in semifinals
As for the men’s team, my country quickly won the match against Laos 3-0 and will next challenge the previous champion Indonesia.
The three men’s singles players Luo Jianyou, Zheng Jiaheng and Xu Jiawei all won. Xu Jiawei, who secured the third point for the team, said in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao: “This means a lot to me. I am very happy and very grateful that I can score the third point and help Singapore secure at least a bronze medal. I hope we can build on this.”
These three players also participated in the Cambodia SEA Games two years ago, but this time the men’s team also has some newcomers. Xu Jiawei said: “In the past two years, we have accumulated more experience both on and off the court, and we have also grown on a personal level. The team has also added some new faces who will not play in the 2023 SEA Games. Their addition makes our overall strength stronger.”
Our men’s and women’s teams have finished with bronze medals in the past few SEA Games. They hope to reach the first final since 2007, when both men’s and women’s teams won silver medals.
Kunlawut will not participate in the men’s singles
In addition, Thailand’s famous player Kunrawutt, who plays at home, said that he would not play in the men’s singles and would only participate in the men’s team. This greatly increased Luo Jianyou’s hopes of winning the gold medal. He had previously lost to Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia) and Kunrawutt in the 2019 and 2022 SEA Games, and suffered silver medals.
The world’s No. 3 Kunlavut recently underwent wisdom tooth surgery. Due to insufficient training, he cannot participate in many competitions in a short period of time. He will set his sights on the Hangzhou Badminton World Federation year-end finals, which will start on the 17th of this month.
The men’s team led by Kunlawut will face Malaysia on Monday (8th).
In addition, the Chinese delegation also competed in men’s baseball that day. They lost to the Philippines 3-17 in the preliminaries and will compete with Vietnam on Monday.
