Leg 2 final piala presiden

PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles badminton pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, playing their first tournament as an independent pair, continued their smashing run by checking into the semi-finals of the Swiss Open in Basel. The world No. 13, who parted ways with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) last month, passed through a tough challenge by beating India's world No. 19 S. Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa 21-17,16-21,21-18 on Friday. Fourth seeds Kian Meng-Pei Jing, who are hoping to snatch a spot in the Tokyo Olympics in July, will take on French pair and sixth seeds Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrus in the semi-finals later Saturday (March 6). World No. 11 Gicquel-Delrue prevented an all-Malaysian semi-final affair by beating fourth seeds Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie 14-21,21-14,21-19. It also turned out to be a disappointing outing in Basel for top seeds Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying after the duo crashed out in the quarter-finals. The 2016 Rio Olympic silver ... » Learn More about Badminton: Kian Meng-Pei Jing storm into semi-finals at Swiss Open

PETALING JAYA: It was a disappointing semi-final outings for Malaysia’s top singles player Lee Zii Jia and independent mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing as they failed to live up to their billings in the Swiss Open. However, world No. 30 women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah saved Malaysia the blushes when they pulled off an upset win over world No. 10 compatriots Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean 10-21,21-14,21-16 to reach the final. Second seeded Zii Jia was stopped 18-21,10-21 by fast-rising Thai teenager Kunlavut Vitidsarn in 41 minutes yesterday. Kunlavut, already a three-time world junior champion, will now face Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen in his first BWF World Tour final. Despite the defeat, it was still a relatively successful outing for Zii Jia. The 22-year-old had been through a lean spell since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out last year and was under criticism for early round defeats when Thailand hosted the first two legs of the World Tour events in ... » Learn More about Zii Jia and Kian Meng-Pei Jing falter in semi-final stage

PETALING JAYA: Top seeds and former All-England runner-up Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik failed in their bid to reach the Swiss Open final as women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah unexpectedly became the only Malaysian survivors in Basel. Aaron-Wooi Yik's challenge came unstuck in the rubber game as Germans Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Seidel eventually pulled away for a 21-13,13-21,21-16 victory in 52 minutes in a semi-final match on Saturday (March 6). Aaron-Wooi Yik had defeated Indonesian world junior champions Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin 21-18,9-21,21-16 to reach the last four on Friday (March 5). Pearly-Thinaah are left to carry Malaysia's hopes of salvaging at least one title after they reached the women's doubles final for the first time. Pearly-Thinaah came back from a game down to beat national No. 1 and teammates Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean 10-21,21-14,21-16. Thinaah said they do not plan to change their patient approach when they take on Bulgaria's Gabriela ... » Learn More about Doubles pair Aaron-Wooi Yik stumbles at semi-finals of Swiss Open

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 09: Danny Green #14 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the fourth quarter against the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on October 9, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Sam Greenwood/Getty Images/AFP ORLANDO – Los Angeles guard Danny Green said he wasn’t fazed to receive death threats on social media after missing a late three-pointer in the Lakers’ game-five loss to Miami in the NBA Finals. Green said he and fiancee Blair Bashen, a former collegiate volleyball player, had both received threats after the Lakers were unable to clinch a title on Friday. “I had to ask, ‘Are you getting death threats?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, you are too,’ and I was like, I don’t know, because I don’t ... » Learn More about Lakers’ Green received death threats after NBA Finals miss

PETALING JAYA: World No. 13 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi will get a third attempt to break into the semi-finals for the first time this year. The independent men’s pair made it to the last eight of the Swiss Open in Basel yesterday, thanks a convincing 21-18,21-13 win over Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer-Joel Eipe. It was certainly a much better display from Yew Sin-Ee Yi after having struggled to clear their opening hurdle on Wednesday against Americans Ryan Chew-Phillip Chew. Yew Sin-Ee Yi are expected to take on India’s second seed Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, who should beat Indonesia’s Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan in the other last-16 encounter. The Malaysians will be seeking revenge against Satwiksairaj-Chirag after they were denied a place in the last four by the world No. 10 at the Thailand Open II in January. Yew Sin-Ee Yi, also quarter-finalists at the Thailand Open 1, will want to capitalise on the absence of eight out of the world top 10 pairs this week to ... » Learn More about Yew Sin-Ee Yi through to the quarter-finals

PETALING JAYA: World No. 85 pair Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong pulled off one of the biggest upsets at the Swiss Open when they sent world No. 12 Marcus Ellis-Chris Landgridge of England packing in the last 16 Thursday (March 4). Hang Yee-Eng Cheong fought from one game down to beat the Rio Olympics bronze medallists 10-21,21-15,21-15 in 72 minutes to reach their first-ever World Tour quarter-finals. "This is the biggest win of our career as we have never beaten such highly-ranked opponents previously. Of course, we're very happy and it's certainly a confidence booster!" said Hang Yee. "We've set ourselves a semi-final target for this tournament and we're now just one win away." Hang Yee-Eng Cheong will take on yet another formidable pair - world No. 15 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark - Friday (March 5). "Having marched this far, we want to keep this good momentum going. We have another big test coming, but as long as we keep our spirits high and fight without ... » Learn More about Badminton: Hang Yee-Eng Cheong pull off biggest upset of career to reach Swiss Open quarter-finals

PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying have put themselves in a bind in their pursuit of an Olympic berth after they were bundled out in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open. The 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallists became the first top seeds to get knocked out in Basel after losing 21-14,19-21,15-21 to Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje on Friday. With the defeat, Peng Soon-Liu Ying extended their unfortunate run of not making a semi-final since the Malaysia Masters in 2020. The defeat will make it tougher for the independent pair to make it to Tokyo as they need to finish in the top eight of the rankings to earn another Olympic appearance. The race for the shuttlers to qualify for the Games will end in middle of June. Peng Soon-Liu Ying have fallen down the pecking order to 13th spot and are now behind Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (eighth) and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (10th). “It’s the first time we played them and we did not know ... » Learn More about Top seeds Peng Soon-Liu Ying tumble out of q-finals

PETALING JAYA: Independent doubles shuttler Goh V Shem insists that he and Tan Wee Kiong are still in high spirits although their path to the Tokyo Olympics have become tougher. The Rio Olympics silver medallists resume their quest to qualify for the July 23-Aug 8 showpiece at the Swiss Open in Basel today with the odds heavily stacked against them due to the uncertainty surrounding the remaining qualifiers. They were initially hopeful of featuring in six World Tour legs that offer points for the Race to Tokyo rankings, but are currently left with just five following the cancellation of next week’s German Open. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) have yet to clarify if they will be coming up with a replacement for the event although the qualifying period has now been pushed forward to June 15 instead of at the end of April. Otherwise, the next qualifiers will be the Asian Badminton Championships (April 27-May 2), Indian Open (May 11-16), Malaysian Open (May 23-30) and ... » Learn More about V Shem-Wee Kiong resume quest to reach Olympics despite heavy odds

Bimby and mom Kris Aquino. Image: Instagram/@krisaquino Kris Aquino defended her children after they became targets of damaging comments online over the past week. “I am not blind, and I am not stupid… in a span of a week my children have been used to trigger me,” the host-actress stated in an Instagram post today, March 7. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KRIS AQUINO (@krisaquino) “Kuya Josh with zero factual basis was said to have impregnated a girl. Bimb has been repeatedly targeted with bullying because people are insisting he is gay,” she said. “Regarding Kuya Josh, name us and show us the girl. About Bimb, he is 13 years old, [I] know my son doesn’t identify as being gay BUT in the event he ever does, he will still be my son.” “The bullying you are doing is a reflection of your homophobic attitudes that are no longer welcome in 2021,” she declared. Bimby was subjected to comments about his ... » Learn More about Kris Aquino calls out homophobia directed at Bimby: ‘Leave my children alone’

Ellen Adarna Nowadays, Ellen Adarna said she’d make sure that the people she hangs out with have all been tested negative from COVID-19, or those who hardly go out of their homes, too. Such was the case of the people she had dinner with recently—the one hosted by controversial actor Derek Ramsay, who has been linked to her. “It was safe because we’re neighbors. He lives five houses away from where I’m staying. It was a get-together of people we know from the village,” the actress told Inquirer Entertainment in a recent exclusive virtual chat. Also invited to the party was their “neighbor” Ruffa Gutierrez, whose Instagram photos and videos of Ellen and Derek have already gone viral. Ellen said she was aware that people have been “speculating” that there was something romantic going on between the two of them, but added that she and Derek “merely laughed about it because there’s really nothing. We just let them. Those who know us would say, ‘So what? They’re single and they look ... » Learn More about Ellen Adarna laughs off rumors linking her to ‘neighbor’ Derek Ramsay