PETALING JAYA: Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong had a good chance to make the final of the All-England badminton championships in Birmingham for the first time.
Instead of taking the bull by the horns, the world No. 16 pair delivered a meek and error-strewn performance to lose 13-21, 15-21 to Japan’s Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The loss deprived V Shem-Wee Kiong the chance to be the first Malaysian pair to make the final since Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in 2011.
Just a day ago, V Shem-Wee Kiong played with such confidence on the way to defeating Kien Keat-Boon Heong 21-19, 22-20 in the quarter-finals.
But the Indian Open GP Gold winners, competing in their first All-England and Superseries semi-final, appeared to be a bundle of nerves as Endo-Hayakawa stormed to take the first game 21-13.
Careless mistakes and a defensive approach allowed Endo-Hayakawa to continue pressing home their advantage in the second game.
The Malaysians looked to be staging a fightback when they reduced the deficit from 11-18 to 15-18.
But they made three more mistakes to hand the match to the Japanese pair after 43 minutes.
Endo-Hayakawa, runner-ups in 2013 and 2014, will seek their first All-England title when they take on Russians Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov in the final.
Despite the defeat, V Shem-Wee Kiong can take heart from the fact that they are one step closer to qualifying for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.
They are now the 12th-ranked pair in the Olympic qualifying race and the semi-final finish in Birmingham should put some distance between them and 14th-ranked Kien Keat-Boon Heong.
Each country can have two pairs for the Olympics if both are ranked in the top eight.
In Saturday’s other matches, Denmark’s Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen dashed England’s hopes by beating local aces Chris Adcock-Gabrielle Adcock 21-13, 22-20 in the mixed doubles semi-final.
World No. 6 Nielsen-Pedersen will take on Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto, who stunned two-time winners and Olympic gold medallists Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei of China 21-19, 21-16, for the title.
In women’s singles, world No. 5 Wang Shixian of China stayed on course for a third All-England title after a hard-earned 21-23, 21-12, 21-15 win over Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying.
