DEAFLYMPICS 2025: SHUTTLERS EDMUND-WEI YING DEFEAT SOUTH KOREANS IN 32 MINUTES

From Farah Najihah Zuraimi

TOKYO, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- National mixed doubles pair Edmund Teo-Boon Wei Ying needed only 32 minutes to defeat a South Korean pair in straight sets in their second Group C badminton match at the 2025 Deaflympics at Keio Arena Tokyo today.

Seeded fourth in the tournament, Edmund-Wei Ying overcame Jeong Jincheol-Park Soyi 21-14, 21-19.

They will complete their group fixtures tomorrow against Turkish pair Muhammed Sert-Elif Sahra Demirel, in a bid to strengthen their position at the top of the group and advance to the next round.

Wei Ying said the strategies continuously discussed with Edmund were key to facing various challenges, ensuring their dream of reaching the final remained on track.

“Many challenges come from the strongest countries such as South Korea, China and India. All of them present tough competition, but we have prepared to face whatever stands in our way.

“That’s because we have already done our best in training — struggling together and winning together,” she said through a sign language interpreter when met by reporters here today.

Meanwhile, another national mixed doubles pair, R. Aravindakumara-Foo Zu Tung, defeated Turkish duo Dogukan Yilmaz-Nalan Kaygin 21-8, 21-12 in their opening Group D match.

However, Aravindakumara-Zu Tung fell to Taiwanese pair Chen Chung-I-Shen Yan-Ru in the second match. The Taiwanese pair will meet Dogukan-Nalan tomorrow to complete the group stage, with the Malaysians currently in second place.

Under the competition format for individual events (singles and doubles), the tournament is divided into three main stages: the preliminary stage, knockout stage and seeding stage.

In the preliminary stage, each player or pair is placed into groups of three to four competitors, where they will face every opponent in their group once.

The top two players or pairs from each group will advance to the knockout stage, where only the winners progress to the next round.

Finally, in the seeding stage, players or pairs are ranked according to the official Badminton ICSD rankings, which form the basis for subsequent draws.

-- BERNAMA