MALAYSIA OPEN 2008 SF - Fresh Face Finalists

As the 2008 Malaysia Super Series finals are currently running at full speed with a fresh dose of finalist faces and with all 5 finals involving an interesting tussle between a big seed and an unseeded opponent, Badzine recaps how the semi-finals concluded with a cocktail of fresh faces for the finals.

Korea was mostly responsible for the fresh face finalist syndrome at the 2008 Malaysia Super Series, contributing 2 unexpected finalists. Before Lee Hyun-Il booked his surprise final berth, his compatriots Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-Jung (pictured) were the first to get the ball rolling in the mixed doubles event.

Lee Hyo-Jung is arguably the most versatile women’s doubles player in Korea at the moment. The lanky Korean has been paired with several prominent Korean men’s doubles players as Korea digs deep to recreate yet another formidable mixed doubles pair following the retirement of their legendary mixed doubles couple Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min, who are two-time World Champions in the discipline.

A variety of Korean mixed doubles pairs have surfaced since, especially with Lee Hyo-Jung paired with the likes of Lee Jae-jin, Han Sung-hoon and Lee Yong-dae on different occasions. While this is not the first time Lee Hyo-Jung and Lee Yong-dae have teamed up, it is arguably their best showing as a pair, given that, in their Super Series win in Switzerland last year, they didn't meet a single top 5 pair in the tournament, and beat an unseeded pair in the finals.

The young Koreans were absolutely mature up against the veteran English pair and 5th-seeded Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms. Particularly outstanding was the 19-year-old Lee Yong-dae, whose menacing smashes had the English pair floored. In fact, the Koreans’ heartening performance won them the crowd’s support. Their thrilling 23-21, 16-21, 21-16 victory had the Malaysian-dominated crowd leaping to their feet with thundering applause and cheers.

Lee/Lee will have a shot at gold as they face an even younger pair, 6th-seeded He Hanbin/Yu Yang of China, who disposed of another veteran pair, Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand, in an equally thrilling semi-final that ended in a wicked score line of 21-23, 21-17, 23-21.