Lu Ching-yao (盧敬堯, right) and Yang Po-han (楊博涵) / CNA file photo

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) Taiwan badminton duo Lu Ching-yao (盧敬堯) and Yang Po-han (楊博涵) lost in the final of the men's doubles at the Thailand Masters 2019 in Bangkok Sunday.

Lu and Yang, ranked 26th in the world, were defeated by world number 14 and top seeds Goh Shem and Tan Wee Kiong from Malaysia 21-13, 21-17 in a match that lasted 46 minutes.

In the first set, the Malaysians rushed to a 6-1 lead and kept the Taiwan pairing under pressure, running away with the first set 21-13.

In the second set, the score was briefly level at 8-8, but the Malaysians once again stepped up the pace to stretch their lead to 20-13 and although the Taiwan duo reduced the deficit they still lost the set 21-17.

Prior to the final, the two pairing had not previously played each other.

On their way to the final, Lu and Yang defeated another pair from Malaysia Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin in the semi-final Saturday 21-17, 21-13, 21-11 in 57 minutes.

The Thailand Masters is a HSBC World Tour Super 300 tournament and one of two HSBC BWF World Tour tournaments held in Thailand annually, the other being the Thailand Open, a HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament.

The tournament, held Jan. 8-13 at Indoor Stadium, Huamark in Bangkok, carried a total purse of US$150,000.

(By Huang Chiao-wen and William Yen)
Enditem/AW