Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will get the chance for revenge when they take on Denmark’s Kim Aastrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the second round in the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open on Thursday.
The 12th ranked Malaysian pair cleared the first hurdle at the Coliseum on Wednesday in straight games 21-13, 21-14 against Indonesian pair Ricky Karandasuwardi-Angga Pratama who were promoted from the qualifying round.
The Danes had defeated Aaron-Wooi Yik in the second round in the French Open three weeks ago. The Malaysians had a good run in last week’s Fuzhou China Open where they reached the semi-finals where they fell to Japan’s Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda.
World No 20 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi also battled into the second round with a hard-fought 17-21, 25-23, 21-16 win over Korean qualifiers Kang Min Hyuk-Kim Jae Hwan in 57 minutes. For a place in the last eight, the Malaysians face World No 5 and fifth seeds Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto. The Indonesians ousted Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei 23-21, 21-14.
Professionals Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong stumbled in the first round. The Rio Olympics silver medal winners ranked No 11 in the world went down 12-21, 15-21 to 27th ranked Russians Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov.
Both the Malaysian pairs in the women’s doubles failed to clear the first round. Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, who moved up two places to 12 in the latest rankings, fell to fifth seeds Lee So Hee-Shin Seung Chan of Korea 16-21, 21-18, 19-21 in 63 minutes.
Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen also crashed out in three games – losing to Hsu Ya Ching-Hu Ling Fang of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 15-21, 17-21 in 51 minutes.
Malaysia’s challenge in the women’s singles also ended in the first round. Soniia Cheah who beat World No 4 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the first round in the Fuzhou China Open last week fell short this time – a 16-21, 16-21 defeat at the hands of the second seed.
In the men’s singles professional Liew Daren, who made the main draw through the qualifying rounds, continued his fine form. The Malaysian ranked No 35 upset Denmark’s higher-ranked opponent Rasmus Gemke (20) 21-18, 18-21, 21-15. Gemke reached the semi-finals in Fuzhou.
Daren faces another Dane for a place in the quarter-finals -world No 5 and seventh seed Viktor Axelsen who beat Korea’s Son Wan-ho 21-9, 21-14. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
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