Malaysia will have representations in four slots of the quarterfinals of the Perodua Malaysia Masters 2020 presented by Daihatsu tomorrow that will take place tomorrow.at the Axiata Arena.
Following from Lee Zii Jia and then Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi’s win in the afternoon, the pair of Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai’s booked their places in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles following their win in their respective second round encounters.
Peng Soon-Liu Ying overcame Choi Sol-gyu- Shin Seung-chan from South Korea 21-13, 21-13 while Soon Huat-Shevon beat Thom Gicquel-Delphin Delrue from France 21-15, 21-11.
“Our performance today was much better than yesterday but they were still some small mistakes which we need to correct and minimise for tomorrow’s game,” said Liu Ying.
Zii Jia confirmed his spot in the quarterfinals after defeating Sameer Verma of India 21-19, 22-20.
It was a tight battle right from the start but the 21-year-old Zii Jia kept his composure to stamp his superiority towards the last stage of the second set where he once trailed Verma.
Zii Jia will now clash against 7th seed Shi Yu Qi in tomorrow’s last eight encounter. Shi had earlier defeated Lu Guang Zu 21-16, 21-12 to advance into the quarterfinal.
“It was a tiring match all the way. We’ve played against each other quite a number of times and know each other’s game too well. But in the end, I managed to claw my way back into the game after trailing in the second set and forced him into making errors,” said Zii Jia.
Zii Jia looks forward to his quarterfinal clash against Shi Yu Qi, saying that he is fully prepared to face the Chinese ace. “I played against him once and lost tamely, but this time around, revenge is on my mind,” said Zii Jia.
On the other hand, Yew Sin-Ee Yi made the quarterfinals after upsetting China’s 8th seed Han Cheng Kai-Zhao Hao Dong.
After losing their two previous encounters against the world number 11, Ong-Teo finally notched their first win over the Chinese pair in straight sets of 21-13, 21-18 which lasted 31 minutes.
The pair will be up against Korea’s Kim Gi Jung-Lee Yong Dae who had earlier defeated fourth seed, Takeshi Komura-Keigo Sonoda 21-15, 21-17.
“We’ve made some changes in strategy today and played patiently especially in long rallies. We’re not setting any targets and are taking things one step at a time to avoid unnecessary pressures,” said Ong after the match.
In the women’s doubles, young pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan put up a gallant effort against Indonesia’s top pair Greysia Polli –Apriani Rahayu, battling point for point in the first set before succumbing to a 22-20, 21-15 defeat.
“We tried hard especially in the first set but the Indonesian pair were too strong, they had the edge when it comes to experience and managing pressures. We lost but there were no regrets as we too learnt a lot from this valuable experience of competing at the highest level,” said Thinaah.
The men’s doubles pair of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were shown the exit after they were bundled out by Indonesian pair Marcus Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya in the other round two match.
Man Wei-Chong-Pearly Tan were also stopped in the second round when they could not find their way past Indonesian pair Hafiz Faizal-Lauria Emmanuelle Widjaja 21-12, 21-14.
The Perodua Malaysia Masters 2020 presented by Daihatsu is a super 500 event offering a total prize purse of USD400,000. The finals will take place on Sunday.
