Tontowi-Liliyana fail to get into China Open final

Indonesian mixed doubles pair Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir, failed to advance to the China Open Superseries Premier final in Shanghai on Saturday.

Tontowi/Liliyana were defeated by the Malaysian pairing of Chang Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, losing in straight sets 19-21, 14-21, kompas.com reported. The Malaysian shuttlers had previously subdued another Indonesian doubles pair Riky Widianto and Puspita Richi Dili at the quarterfinals on Friday with 21-16 21-18.

Many considered the failure tragic, especially considering Chan/Goh had never won over the world No. 3 mixed pair Tontowi/Liliyana, who brought home the All England title in March 2011 and the 2012 Swiss Grand Prix Gold.(iwa)