Story by Rachel Yip/Red Sports. Photos by Jerald Ang/Red Sports.
Vanessa Neo of Singapore returns the lob with a smash. (Photo 1 © Jerald Ang/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Saturday, June 13, 2015 — After bowing out in the round of 16 stage in the 2013 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Singapore’s mixed doubles pair of Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Vanessa Neo were hoping to go further in this year’s edition. But this was not to be as they lost in straight sets (18-21, 16-21) to Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, despite putting up a strong fight.
Danny and Vanessa got off to a shaky start when the Malaysian pair raced to a 6-1 lead. Playing in front of a 5000-strong home crowd, the Singapore pair fought back to draw 12-12.
The Singaporeans continued to put on a brave showing. When the Malaysians were at set point, the Singaporean duo took the next three points to rattle the Malaysians. However, Danny and Vanessa were no match for the former world number three pair, losing the first set 18-21.
The Malaysians continued their dominance in the second set. Despite Danny and Vanessa putting in a couple of good smashes, they played inconsistently, and made simple mistakes at crucial points. They lost the match 18-21, 16-21 in 40 minutes.
Having lost to the Malaysians before, Vanessa felt that there was a missed opportunity to beat them in front of the home crowd. She said, “It was wasted. There was a chance to actually beat the opponents but we didn’t capitalise on some points. When we caught up, we didn’t hold it tight enough. The whole match felt like we were chasing the points instead of leading and getting the advantage.
“The opponents played well today. I have to give credit to them. We just have to work on our game and look forward to the other matches.”
Later in the day, Vanessa Neo paired up with Shinta Mulia in the women’s doubles competition. They lost 11-21, 15-21 to Indonesia’s Anggia Shitta Awanda and Ni Ketut Mahadewi.
Danny Chrisnanta teamed up with Chayut Triyachart in the men’s doubles competition to beat Lao’s Aniloud Keophithoun and P. Fongmalayseng 21-12, 21-15 and advance to the quarterfinals.
Mixed doubles (Round of 16) results
Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/Vanessa Neo (SIN) 0 Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) 2
(18-21, 16-21)
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