SIBU: Sarawak made a promising start to the tournament today, with women’s singles player Wong Ling Ching following Sarawak’s men’s singles lead to advance to the quarter-finals on Aug 21.
Wong, the second-ranked women’s singles player at SUKMA XXI, easily defeated Federal States’ Alisha Jeffery to win 2-0.
In the first set, Wong took a comfortable 11-5 lead into the gap before closing out the set at 21-14.
In the second set, Wong effortlessly fended off Alicia’s foreclosure attempt and took an 11-4 lead to finish the match 21-9.
Tomorrow morning (August 23), Wong will face Sembilan’s Ung Xi Xing for a chance to advance to the semi-finals in the afternoon.
Wong remains the Sarawak badminton team’s only hope after another Sarawak player Megan Tan lost in the round of 32 on Aug 21.