The final encounter between world number one Viktor AXELSEN and Japan’s singles ace Kenta NISHIMOTO, witnessed by some 5,000 loud-cheering and enthusiastic spectators, was simply thrilling which befits the PERODUA Malaysia Masters presented by DAIHATSU’s status as a premier international badminton tournaments. Both had met twice prior to the tournament with the latest encounter taking place at last year’s DAIHATSU YONEX Japan Open. While AXELSEN’s passage into the finals was expected, NISHIMOTO’s successful attempt into the finals was indeed a big surprise to many. Only after LEE Chong Wei was sent packing 19-21, 21-18, 21-19 in 1 hour 18 minutes in the first round, all eyes were focused on the NISHIMOTO to soar higher.

It was a massive duel with both AXELSEN and NISHIMOTO starting off the game on cautious note. There were many nervous moments, with AXELSEN displaying his famous deadly overhead smashes and long rallies. But the gutsy NISHIMOTO proved to be a tough opponent, adopting effective combination of aggressive and defensive play which made it difficult for AXELSEN. NISHIMOTO clawed back strongly in the second game, a nail-biting and close battle which ended 23-21 in his favour. AXELSEN then found himself in a commanding position in the third game, leading 11-6 at the interval while fatigue clearly got the better of NISHIMOTO. While AXELSEN is poised for more victories in the coming months, expect NISHIMOTO to further improve and soar even higher this year.

Drawn in the bottom half with second seed Akane YAMAGUHI of Japan in the main draw, Thai star Ratchanok INTANON (world no. 5), stepped into the tournament hoping to start the year on a right note. It turned out to be hard-fought battle, a point-for-point three-set thriller against world number one TAI Tzu Ying in a three-set thriller. Ratchanok was determined to start 2018 with a bang, gunning for her first major title of the year after missing out the action in Thailand Masters. The boisterous crowd were simply excited by the Tai-Ratchanok showdown which concluded with Ratchanok taking home her first major feat of the year.
It was not plain sailing for Ratchanok in the early rounds as she had to get past notable players like Indonesia’s FITRIANI, Kirsty GILMOUR and home shuttler GOH Jin Wei. A hard fought win over Japanese Akane YAMAGUCHI put her through to the finals against TAI Tzu Ying.
It was electrifying from the word go with Ratchanok getting the upper hand, rattling TAI with her confident strokes and attacking play to win first game 21-16. The third game was a point for point battle all the way, with Ratchanok taking an 11-8 lead at the interval. But TAI played brilliantly, locking Ratchanok to 14-14 tie before taking an 18-15 lead. At 22-22, INTANON stepped up her game, delivered all her energy to win the next two points which gave her the title!

It was a fitting atmosphere for Malaysian doubles star and World No. 24, GOH V Shem / TAN Wee Kiong, who entered the centre court at Axiata Arena to the loud cheers of some 5,000 home supporters. But it was also a tricky encounter as they are up against Indoneisa’s young and rising pair of Fajar ALFIAN and Muhammad Rian ARDIANTO.
GOH and TAN were up against world champions LIU Cheng / ZHANG Nan of China in quarterfinals, before brushing off Taiwan’s CHEN Hung Ling / WANG Chi-Lin in the semifinals to set up a clash against 16th-ranked pair, Fajar and Muhammad Rian. Both had earlier had made waves after scalping Japanese pair of Takeshi KOMURA / Keigo SONODA (ranked 4th), and world number 5 pair of Mads CONRAD-PETERSON / Mads Pieler KOLDING of Denmark enroute to the finals.
It seemed that GOH / TAN are on their way to celebrating their first title of the year after an easy 21-14 victory in the first game. However, it was not meant to be as gutsy the Indonesia pair clawed back, capitalising on a string of errors by the Malaysians. Despite taking a promising 7-1 lead, the Malaysian pair fell apart following a string of errors which gave Fajar / Rian a huge psychological boost to finish off the game with a tight 24-22 victory. GOH and TAN were rattled as their opponent grew stronger in confidence. In the end, GOH and TAN were left to rue their chances, while Fajar and Muhammad Rian, are expected to soar higher!

A determined display, combined with aggressive attacks and good defending, proved fruitful for Kamilla Rytter JUHL and Christinna PEDERSEN who overpowered top seeds CHEN Qingchen / JIA Yifan of China 22-20, 21-18 in a tight 44-minute finale. The Danish pair took a healthy 11-7 lead at the interval of the first game, but CHEN and JIA, tried hard to get back into the game, levelling 14-14 and 17-17 at one time. However the lanky Kamilla and Christinna put their power play into good use and with the score tied at 20-20, the Danish girls took advantage of the situation to finally seal the first game 22-20.
Windy conditions aside, Christinna and Kamilla played well to cover their ground, not letting the Chinese pair crack their defence. At the slightest opportunities, they countered with fast attacks which proved too much for CHEN and JIA who eventually gave away four straight points and succumbed with a final score of 22-20, 21-18.

Second seed TANG Chun Man and TSE Ying-suet, both left-handers, made full use of their rare advantage to clinch their biggest win against over world number one, ZHENG Siwei / HUANG Yaqiong. It was a nail-biting first game, with both attempting to force each other into making errors with their fast attacking game and good net play. When both pair were tied at 18-18, ZHENG / HUANG stepped up the pressure, cornered their opponents into making mistakes and raced to a 21-19 finish.
The Hong Kong pair came back strongly in the second game, taking the game 22-20 to force a decider which turned out to be a real cracker. It was extremely intense as TANG and TSE earned a slim 11-10 lead at the interval but a lapse in concentration eventually led to the downfall of the Chinese pair.