PETALING JAYA: National men’s doubles shuttlers Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong’s fine run at the Kumamoto Masters badminton championship in Japan has come to an end.
The duo was defeated by home favourites Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi 12-21, 15-21 in the semi-final today.
The world 9th ranked Japanese pair took just 33 minutes to down world No 40 Nur Azriyn-Wee Kiong in their first ever meeting.
The Malaysian pair, who made it to their first World Tour Super 500 semi-final, were completely outclassed by their opponents who were buoyed by the loud home crowd support.
Takuro-Yugo will meet the winner of the all-Indonesian semi-final between Leo Rolly Carnando-Bagas Maulana and Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto.